Cancer Fighters: Walkers Nan Bartholemew, Carol Fitting and Jean Myers all discovered they had recently gone through the same surgery.
Walking for a Cure
Willow Glen residents step up to help fight breast cancer in 3-day, 60-mile walk
By Melissa Matchak
Over a dozen women -- and a few men, too -- from Willow Glen deserve a big pat on the back. Not to mention a foot massage. Of the nearly 3,000 people who participated in the Avon three-day Walk for Breast Cancer July 28 through July 30, at least 15 were residents of Willow Glen.
Walkers Linda Appleton, Wendy Giusti, Susan Gutterman, Michelle and Lynn Kelly, Nan Bartholomew, Carol Fitting, Jean Myers, Pam Hammond, Suzanne Alexander, David Ginsborg, Melissa Aiello, Annette Boyer, Debbie Chuba and Karen Davis trekked 60 miles from De Anza College to Marina Green in San Francisco and raised a minimum of $1,800 each to battle breast cancer. At least three are breast cancer survivors.
One of the walkers, Pam Hammond, said she walked for the personal challenge and in hopes that her daughters will never have to battle breast cancer. Hammond said that although she does not have a family history of breast cancer, she had a scare after a recent mammogram.
"This is a cause that unites women more than anything I've ever seen," Hammond said. "It's not about overcoming that obstacle for me, it's about raising money and awareness."
Hammond said she will definitely participate next year, either as a walker or as a crew member.
Breast cancer survivor Carol Fitting, who underwent surgery in November 1999, participated in the walk, which she said was both challenging and exciting. Fitting remembers in one town they walked through, residents and their children lined the streets as the walkers passed through, offering refreshment from water hoses and even candy.
"I thought it was marvelous that these parents took their children outside and explained to them why we were walking," Fitting said. "I saw a little girl and thought to myself, 'By the time that little girl is 40, this disease should be gone.' "
Before the walk, Fitting was reunited with an old friend, Nan Bartholomew, whom she had known 20 years earlier but had lost touch with. Through a mutual friend, Jean Myers, Fitting learned that Bartholomew had also recently gone through the same breast cancer surgery. All three women are survivors and participated in the race.
Fitting finished the walk by herself, and said those who had already finished lined either side of a portable fence, and cheered for those coming in. "Everyone was cheering, and the crescendo got so great, it took me a split second to realize they were cheering for me. It was very moving," Fitting said.
Fitting said many walkers carried pictures of loved ones who had battled breast cancer. Others wrote the names of women who had lost the fight with breast cancer on their T-shirts. At the closing ceremony, the 163 survivors were honored and identified as they received pink long-sleeve T-shirts for their participation.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
