“Ryan Moats hopes his story will help raise awareness about breast ... - Winnipeg Free Press” plus 3 more |
- Ryan Moats hopes his story will help raise awareness about breast ... - Winnipeg Free Press
- Robin Roberts to be guest announcer on Opry - Aiken Standard
- Austin woman creates bike ride for breast cancer - KHOU
- Race for the Cure is yearly reminder of why we wear pink yearly - Toledo Blade
| Ryan Moats hopes his story will help raise awareness about breast ... - Winnipeg Free Press Posted: 03 Oct 2009 06:47 AM PDT  Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats poses with his shoes Friday. (DAVID J. PHILLIP / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) HOUSTON - Ryan Moats was denied the chance to say a final goodbye to his mother-in-law Jonetta Collinsworth as she succumbed to breast cancer because of an ugly incident with a police officer that gained national attention. Now the Houston Texans running back is hoping what he went through can help raise awareness about the importance of breast cancer screening. Moats, along with players across the NFL, will wear pink shoes and gloves starting this week as part of the NFL's "Crucial Catch" campaign. "If I could change anything I would love for it not to happen and for Jo to be here," Moats told The Associated Press about his mother-in-law. "But bad things happen and you can make good things out of them." Moats found himself in the middle of a national story this spring when he was stopped outside a hospital near Dallas. He had rolled through a red light while trying to get his wife there to see her mother before she died. Video from a dashboard camera captured the almost 13-minute incident in which the officer pulled his gun and threatened to arrest Moats instead of allowing him inside despite pleas that his mother-in-law was dying. His wife, Tamishia, rushed into the hospital despite the officer's orders to get back in the SUV, and she was able to reach her mother before she died. By the time Moats was released, the 45-year-old Collinsworth had died. The police officer resigned from the Dallas Police department, but has since been hired elsewhere in Texas. "Because of what happened people recognize us and know what we went through and what my mom went through, and that way we can help get the word out to other people," Tamishia said. "So if we can help one person to get detected and find out that they have cancer and get it treated early, then that's enough for us." Ryan Moats said Collinsworth worked to increase awareness about breast cancer during her three-year fight with the disease. "This gives me the opportunity to show the world who she was and what she was all about and kind of leave a legacy in a way," Moats said. "So that gives us the opportunity to affect other people's lives. We're trying our best to make a positive thing out of it." Collinsworth was a head start teacher who made sure each of her students had a birthday cake and who would buy them shoes if they needed them. It makes Ryan smile that he's honouring the memory of Collinsworth by wearing pink shoes for her because she always gave shoes to those in need. The two were very close and Ryan said Collinsworth helped him through trying times in his professional career that included a broken leg and being released from the Philadelphia Eagles. "There's hardships in this game," he said. "She was behind me all the time, so I'm proud to go out there and represent her." Ryan hopes the reach of the NFL will encourage people who weren't thinking about screening to get screened. "One of the biggest pluses to this is in order to beat this disease you need to catch it early," he said. "So if people can see us wearing the pink gloves, wearing the pink shoes (and know) that hey, it's OK to be checked out. Don't be afraid." Tamishia and a group of Texans wives, cheerleaders and other staff members will participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure walk in downtown Houston on Saturday morning to kick off the weekend's activities. The "Crucial Catch" campaign, done in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, encourages annual mammograms for women over 40. Andre Johnson and Mario Williams are also expected to wear pink shoes and gloves Sunday, and receiver Kevin Walter, who has a family member with breast cancer, plans to wear pink gloves. "I've seen it firsthand with my wife's aunt," Walter said. "She's close to us and she's been real sick and it's getting worse. You feel for her. She's in the later stages of breast cancer and it's tough. It's great to see the NFL doing this, because a lot of women have it." After seeing his mother-in-law's fight with the disease, Ryan Moats hopes a cure or a better way to treat it will come soon. Until then, he believes this campaign will be a success if it encourages just one person to get screened. "That's a victory," he said. "I know we always put things on stats and percentages and stuff like that. So if a person goes to get tested for cancer ... and finds out they're fine, then they say to someone: 'You should get checked,' then it just trickles down. So that .001 per cent will grow. So one person can turn into millions."  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Robin Roberts to be guest announcer on Opry - Aiken Standard Posted: 30 Sep 2009 02:43 PM PDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Robin Roberts, co-host of ABC's "Good Morning America" and a breast cancer survivor, will be guest announcer this Friday during a special Grand Ole Opry show promoting research about the disease. Roberts, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, will introduce acts during the long-running live country music show.
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| Austin woman creates bike ride for breast cancer - KHOU Posted: 03 Oct 2009 11:33 AM PDT AUSTIN -- An Austin woman who has never had breast cancer is responsible for creating a first-of-its-kind ride to help women living with breast cancer. Exercise got Jan Hill's wheels turning, but cancer gave her a cause. "I was first diagnosed in 1995," she said. At age 45, doctors told Hill she had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was treatable, but she needed 50 rounds of chemotherapy. "I nearly stopped those treatments because the quality of life was so poor," Hill said. Hill finished her treatments, then decided to move away from cancer. She packed up her U-Haul in Missouri and settled in Austin. "I lived here about a year and a month when a spot showed up on my right kidney," she said. "It turned out I had renal cell carcinoma." Her kidney cancer was not related to the Hodgkin's Lymphoma, but it pushed Hill into exercise. "I've done 10 triathlons since," Hill said. Those races proved Hill wasn't alone. She is now 10 years out from her treatment and she knows she has a lot for which to be grateful. "Every once in a while my doctors will tell me I'm a bit of a miracle," said Hill. She wanted to share her good fortune. "Out of a hundred women training each year to complete a triathlon, I would guess 90 of them are breast cancer survivors," Hill said. "So I approached the people who began the Hill Country Ride for AIDS and asked them, 'Would you do something similar for breast cancer?' And they said, 'Yes.'" As mamma of the Mamma Jamma Ride for Breast Cancer, Hill couldn't be more excited. More than 450 riders are expected at the inaugural event. "I'm ecstatic," she said. "But down deep I knew, I knew you would come." The Mamma Jamma Ride is Saturday, October 10 in Georgetown. All of the money will stay locally and be split between seven different agencies. Remember we'd also love to have you join us for Race for the Cure. That takes place Sunday, November 1 at the Domain. You can go here to register.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Race for the Cure is yearly reminder of why we wear pink yearly - Toledo Blade Posted: 03 Oct 2009 11:26 AM PDT THE energy was so electrifying on Sunday morning in downtown Toledo that I almost wanted to join in the running of the 5K Race for the Cure or walk the one-mile family walk for breast cancer. But because I was wearing flip-flops, any long-distance trek might not have been a good idea. Yep. There I was downtown Toledo in casual clothes instead of in church in my Sunday best. I went to be with Linda, my friend who, with a relative, is a breast cancer survivor. Silly me, though. In a sea of pink, from the palest to hottest, I forgot to wear that color, but Linda was gracious enough to let me wear her pink scarf. Linda has participated in the Toledo Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure almost since its inception 16 years ago. During her 14 years of involvement, she has also been a runner. She has volunteered these last few years. On Sunday, she handed out cups of water to runners and walkers, and since her grandson was there to help, I got to enjoy good company and conversation with them and others who stopped by to satisfy their thirst. Funny thing about Sunday's race, in which 18,000 women, men, children, including infants and toddlers in strollers, were there. Some women I knew, including those I knew who were breast cancer survivors and others I did not know who had had the disease and licked it. So in addition to Linda, I do a curtsey to you too, Rose, another woman I know, and to Renee, whom I met Sunday morning. In fact, let me give a high-five to every woman who has struggled to beat breast cancer. But I also bow my head in honor of women I know, whose names are too numerous to list here, who have died from the disease. And because October is breast cancer awareness month, it's a reminder about how important it is for women to do monthly breast-self examinations and to get yearly doctor's check-ups. In 2005 — the most recent year for which figures are available — about 186,500 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. More than 41,000 died from it. Though breast cancer is largely thought of as a woman's disease, men can be diagnosed with it, too. In 2005, more than 1,700 men were diagnosed with it and 375 men died. The battle against breast cancer, then, is a family affair involving both genders. Everyone else must join the vigorous fight to find a cure for this disease that keeps ravaging the lives of women and their families. So wear pink or a pink ribbon, and make sure you and your loved ones do monthly breast-self examinations and get checked by a doctor annually. Your life, or the life of a loved one, could depend on it. Rose Russell is a Blade associate editor. Contact her at rrussell@theblade.com.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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