CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine — It was a sea of pink at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, as people walked together to fight against breast cancer, at the 24th annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event.
"When you hear the word cancer, it's really scary," said breast cancer survivor Barbara Bickford.
Bickford walked with her family and friends who supported her throughout her treatment.
"They were the ones that brought me through. If it wasn't for them..," said Bickford.
The 63-year-old was diagnosed six years ago, after doctors found a lump during her mammogram.
She had surgery and 25 treatments of radiation. She is now proud to say she is cancer free.
"A lot of hard times, a lot of can I do this, but you always look and there is always someone worse off than you," said Bickford.
Tish Russell said she was three years behind on getting her mammogram.
Once she did, they found a cancerous lump.
"I wanted to faint," said Russell.
She had five months of chemotherapy and 12 weeks of radiation.
"The thing that bothered me most was losing my hair, and I'm like why, I don't care what I look like, but I didn't want anyone to think I was sick," said Russell.
She got through it with the help of her family and is a four year survivor.
"My granddaughter, I was explaining to her when she was three, you know nana is going to look different, I may lose my hair. So she followed me into the bathroom every time and one day she saw me pulling clumps out and as I was fighting back the tears she said 'nana, you are beautiful'," said Russell.
Her advice? Get your mammogram, don't wait, so you can keep moving forward with your life.
Donations from the event fund research, as well as programs and services to support people battling the disease.
According to new research by the American Cancer Society, the estimated number of people expected to be newly diagnosed with breast cancer this year, could fill Gillette Stadium four times over.
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