It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month… time to talk about boobs and breast cancer non-stop
CoppaFeel! founder Kris Hallenga reflects on how far she has come since setting up the charity seven years ago - and on how there still is to go with 12,000 breast cancer deaths a year
IT’S October – which means it’s time to talk about boobs and breast cancer non-stop for a whole month.
Why? Because believe it or not, breast cancer is still very much an issue and so we have our annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Yes, you could argue it gets a lot of air time, but 12,000 people still die of the disease every year.
So, sadly, it’s hardly something that’s been solved.
October can also be a time to celebrate the women and men who have shown cancer who is boss – and are still alive.
I, for one, get pretty reflective around this time, as the end of the month will mark CoppaFeel!’s seventh birthday – and the seventh anniversary of me saying TTFN to my left boob.
October becomes a pretty manic time for any breast cancer charity and already we have seen such a great impact from our #GetItOffYourChest campaign.
Text REMIND to 70500
For monthly reminders to check your boobs, text REMIND to 70500. Your initial message will cost your standard network rate.
It is asking the nation to get familiar with some of the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer, such as unusual nipple discharge, persistent pain and so on, and we created a video with some of our celebrity pals who tell you about these potential abnormalities.
I was pretty excited to see our amazing video played during the adverts at the cinema before watching Bridget Jones’s Baby last week – which, by the way, is a laugh-out-loud movie.
It was extra weird because I appear in the movie, and I chuckled to myself as no one around me clocked that I was on the screen.
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The cinema was full of young women, all chatting away during the ads, but when ours came on the place went deathly quiet as everyone concentrated.
The next day, I heard the ad on Kiss FM while I was painting a bedroom.
It was a surreal moment and I couldn’t help but think of the people who were listening and decided to check in with their boobs not long after. At least, that is what I hope happened.
Check in with yours, get chummy with them and remind your loved ones to do the same. You never know – it may save their life.