Each person who gets involved in the Weekend event makes an impact through their training, their fundraising, and their participation in a 30 or 60 km walk where they connect with other walkers determined to beat the disease that has impacted their life in some way.
In the summer of 1973, Lily was hired by Princess Margaret Hospital as an outpatient clerk. It was her first summer job, and she was proud to be wearing a white lab coat. However, just ten years later, she was wearing a blue patient gown and was preparing for cancer surgery.
Lily has survived thyroid cancer, and her family has dealt with breast cancer, ovarian cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer. Losing her parents to cancer, and being treated herself has shown her the importance of testing and early diagnosis. It has also motivated her to be part of the solution. So she walks.
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| | Lily, her team members with Dr. Tak Mak and Dr. Buckman
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When asked about her greatest satisfaction in being part of The Weekend to End Breast Cancer, she shares that, “The Weekend allowed me to achieve goals that were beyond the realm of my (limited) imagination. In the first year, I raised $2,000 which was a mammoth goal, and I walked 60 km—also a mammoth goal. But once I achieved those goals, then it became conceivable to set even greater goals. Following this logic, suddenly conquering cancer in our lifetime—another mammoth goal—seems attainable!”
As it is for many walkers, one of the privileges of the event for Lily was the chance to talk to the esteemed Dr. Tak Mak, Director of The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. “As we walked, he spoke so very passionately about conquering cancer in our lifetime. I had thought of it only as a marketing campaign. But for him, it appeared to be an assumption. It changed my way of thinking completely.”
Those who have been involved in The Weekend to End Breast Cancer will certainly relate to Lily’s analogy of making ripples. She believes it is a wonderful opportunity for anyone to participate in the effort to conquer cancer in our lifetime.