Breast Cancer Awareness: Walk honours late advocate

Walk remembers breast cancer victim Nalie's Walk remembers a cancer victim who's final years raised awareness of breast cancer.

Two years after her death, Nalie Agustin's legacy lives on.

On Saturday, dozens gathered for a memorial walk to honour the woman who died of breast cancer at 33 years old.

"It all started when she was 24," said her brother Albert Agustin.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 20s, she almost immediately decided to use her diagnosis to raise awareness.

"She decided to record herself in her car, actually, on her way to my home where we had found out, and we were gathering to support her," said Albert. "She made a decision right then and there that she would not hide. She would share her story to the world."

For 10 years, Nalie posted videos on social media to help educate and support other young breast cancer patients.

Now, through the Nalie Foundation, her fight lives on.

"It's been two years since she's gone," said Albert. "But we're honouring her... What we want to achieve through our foundation is, of course, support programs and, organizations, that have to do research specifically for young women with breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer."

Studies show breast cancer rates are rising among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

In Quebec, only women between 50 and 74 are eligible for free screening without a family doctor or referral.

During October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Nalie's mother, Tess Agustin, hopes her daughter's legacy walk will help women discover alternative ways of accessing care.

"One of our objectives also is to help the young women that can't afford it to be able to get access to traditional and complementary treatments that are not covered by medicare," said Tess. "My daughter, when she got diagnosed, we had the doctor's note and she had sent her papers for a mammogram, but it took us almost a year to get the mammogram. Then, when we noticed that the lump was growing, I said, 'I don't care. I don't wait for the mammogram. Go somewhere else and I'll pay for it.'"

The Agustin family also hopes their efforts will inspire others to be thrivers, as they say Nalie was herself.