Anni Wood was diagnosed with – and overcame – breast cancer in 2000, when her daughter was just five years old. But in 2005, it returned as a secondary cancer – this time in her bones, liver and brain.
“I remember curling up in a ball and just sobbing,” her daughter, Laura Wood, recalls. “She had been so well the years prior and I was heartbroken to hear that it had managed to come back. It didn’t seem fair that she would have to go through it all again.”
Laura’s father, Mark Wood, quit his job to become his wife’s full time carer, until Anni passed away when Laura was just 12.
Now, both Laura and Mark are heavily involved with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of the need for self-checks. “There is so much emphasis nowadays on eating and living well, preventive self-checks should be a part of this,” Laura says. “Breast cancer is one disease that can be self-diagnosed by checking your breasts regularly for any lumps and changes.”
“My Mum found her lump very late. When the breast cancer was detected it was large and aggressive. Perhaps if she had known and been more vigilant about self-checks, it could have been found earlier and she could still be here today.”
Laura, who has followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a professional dancer, is an ambassador for the National Breast Cancer Foundation’s Real Men Wear Pink campaign, which launches on Monday June 12. She and her father share the same goal as NBCF: to have zero deaths from breast cancer by 2030.
“This is the dream and can be made a reality with important funding of vital research,” Laura says. “I don’t want anyone to go through the experience my family has had if it can be prevented.”
“Having my dad involved in such a predominantly female charity is really special,” she adds. “I’ve seen him inspire many other men to support the cause and be involved.”
“Men are connected in many ways to the disease, whether they are diagnosed themselves or have a mother, wife, daughter, sister or aunt affected by the cancer.”
Through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign, NBCF hopes to raise more than $1.5 million through community support, to fund breast cancer research. Register to fundraise via realmenwearpink.org.au.
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