Breast cancer survivor Isabelle Simler wants everyone to be body aware. This year’s Participant of Hope spoke to the hundreds of people in attendance prior to the CIBC Run for the Cure. “You have to know that when there’s a lump, you’ve got to get it checked out,” said Simler who was diagnosed back in 2008. “There’s no waiting because stage one is a big difference between stage four. It’s just a more aggressive situation for them to deal with and for you to deal with, so it’s important for you to get at it early.” Simler had a long history of breast cancer. She had aunts and her sister both passed away. That made her aware something was wrong in 2008 and she ended up in a high-risk program which may have saved her life. “I had young children, so my first thought was, ‘I can’t go anywhere because they need to have their mom present like they I need to be here.’” The run had more than 1,300 participants and raised over $340,000 this year. Prior to the run, 37 breast cancer survivors came to the front of the stage for a photo. “I think it’s very important that we keep having this every year to raise money so that the money can find the research and also create more awareness for the people,” said Emmanuel Ademola, director of the London run. “The researchers and research is getting better and better every day and we are part of the people who are funding the research in Canada. Hopefully the money that we fund and raise from the run actually goes into getting more information about the cure, about the awareness and hopefully getting our research more advanced.” Participants braved some steady rain for about an hour prior to the run, but it cleared up and the sun came out just as the walkers and runners were about to start pounding the pavement. Simler advocates for getting a mammogram and MRI and also follow through with further investigation if something feels wrong.
