Paint the town pink: Breast cancer patients, survivors and their supporters join Pink Walk

Multimedia Journalist, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·

17 Oct, 2023 03:00 AM4 mins to read

A sea of pink costumes at last year's Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust Pink Walk 2022. Photo / Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust

About 1200 people are set to paint the town pink tomorrow for Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust’s annual Pink Walk. .

Last year’s Pink Walk event in Rotorua raised $12,000, and organisers are hoping for the same support this year. Funds raised at the event will be kept within the Rotorua Lakes district and used to support cancer patients.

The walk is an annual event that aims to bring together friends and whānau to enjoy a fun evening of love and laughter, celebrating life and sharing a moment of remembrance for all their loved ones who have experienced, or lost their lives to, breast cancer. Participants dress in pink to symbolise the pink ribbon of breast cancer awareness.

Each year, about 3300 women and 25 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in New Zealand. Breast cancer is New Zealand’s number-one cancer in women, and about 650 people die from the cancer each year.

The walk departs from Rotorua Lakefront Village Green at 6pm and covers a 3.4-kilometre loop walk to the Government Gardens.

The walk is open to members of the public, with tickets costing $10 for adults while children can take part with a gold coin donation.

Breast cancer survivor and trustee Pam Taylor underwent 19 surgeries, including a mastectomy, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer 13 years ago at the age of 42.

She said she was surprised to find a 21-year-old breast cancer patient was also attending her support group.

“I went in thinking it was an older thing... but it can take any age,” Taylor said.

She said events such as the Pink Walk were important because they continued to raise awareness about the number-one cancer for women in New Zealand.

“Women are great because they talk [about it],” she said.

A group of walkers at last year's Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust Pink Walk 2022. Photo / Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust

She advised women to check their breasts “regularly”.

Taylor said women should become familiar with how their breasts felt during different stages of their menstrual cycle, as this was important for early cancer detection.

Rotorua Breast Cancer Trust treasurer Kim Shearer said: “Everyone knows someone who has breast cancer.”

The annual fundraiser was a way to “come together as a community”, and some people walked in memory of loved ones lost to cancer.

Shearer was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago, and said it was a “shock” processing the news.

She is now clear of cancer.

“I’m one of the lucky ones”.

Shearer said the funds raised would go towards petrol vouchers, lymphedema massage funding and compression sleeves for cancer patients.

Last year’s Pink Walk raised enough to buy a Sozo machine, with support from the Thrupp family.

A Sozo machine costs $16,000 and uses non-invasive technology to measure and track fluid build-up in at-risk limbs.

Shearer said there were monthly support meetings, such as morning teas with speakers, and individual treatment services available for patients.

Her advice for women was: “It doesn’t matter what age or stage, go and get a mammogram.”

Trust chairwoman Gayle Rattigan counted herself as “one of the lucky ones” who had not had breast cancer.

She believed the cancer was not “discriminatory” and she was just “lucky”.

Rattigan said she was looking forward to tomorrow’s event.

“Everything raised here stays here [in Rotorua]. We focus on our local people,” she said.

General registration starts at 4.30pm tomorrow evening. Registration fees are $10 for adults and a koha or gold coin donation for children aged 12 years and under.