Beach goes pink for breast cancer

Peter Evans pushed son Joel, 18 months, along the beach for the Papamoa Beach Pink Walk. Photo / Joel Ford

Peter Evans and his family raided their house to find pink items to wear during the Papamoa Beach Pink Walk.

Sporting a pair of bunny ears he borrowed from his daughter, Mr Evans said he, his wife and two children had a great time. Since they now had all the pink gear, Mr Evans said the family would also take part in Tauranga's Hot Pink Walk on October 16.

"This was the first time I've been to a pink walk. I don't know anyone who has been affected by breast cancer but I know a lot of the people there had so it was good to be alongside them."

Mr Evans said in the morning the family had raided their Brookfield house, found every pink item they had, chucked it all in the middle of the room then "went at it".

Mr Evans was at the event representing Unilever, one of the sponsors.

Organiser Lea Lehndorf, of the Breast Cancer Support Service, said it had been a beautiful day with a great turnout.

"We had about 800 people there which is pretty consistent. There were some pretty spectacular costumes which made it quite a lot of fun. One grandmother made some lovely pink mermaid tails for her grandchildren." Mrs Lehndorf said they had not tallied up the funds yet, but was happy with how the event went.

"Everyone had a really good time remembering the ones we have lost and supporting the ones who got through it. As we moved through the crowds, we were talking about breast cancer awareness. Women need to start thinking about their boobs and remembering to check these things. It's a message everyone knows but through the year it gets forgotten."

Mrs Lehndorf said the Papamoa Beach Pink Walk always got great support from the community.

"Today was definitely better than last year with a lot less wind and more sunshine. The beach walk has always been a family event, there were lots of families down there. Men were wearing pink and getting into the spirit of things. We had the full gamut of ages - we had pushchairs and walking sticks."

Mrs Lehndorf said it was good to have a variety of people as when breast cancer hit one woman, or more rarely one man, it affected a whole family.