After watching her mother fight cancer for years and her grandfather succumb to it, one Burnaby resident has decided to hit the concrete.
Emily Macalister is fundraising for the B.C. Cancer Foundation in the first annual Concrete Hero event in Vancouver, which is a nine-kilometre obstacle race on Sept. 29.
"It provides an opportunity to start the conversation with someone, tell them what (B.C. Cancer Agency) does and the importance of pre-screening," she said about why she's fundraising. "And the importance of the B.C. Cancer Agency and how much they do for the province."
Macalister knows the toll cancer can have on a family, as her own mother has struggled with breast cancer for many years.
"What spurred my fundraiser was my mom went through surgery over this year, and it was huge on my mind," she noted.
Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 17 years ago and her bout with it had her questioning her family's history with the disease.
"She enjoys looking at family trees and realized how many people in our family did have cancer," Macalister said. "The most important question to her, more than anything else was, 'Is there something genetic about this?"
When her mother found out about the B.C. Cancer Agency's hereditary program she took the tests - and she tested positive for the breast cancer type two susceptibility protein (BCRA2). This is a protein found in human cells and means the person carrying it is very likely to get cancer.
Since her mother tested positive, Macalister, 25, qualified for the program and she too tested positive to BCRA2.
"The thing is, having these genetic mutations because of where we live and the support from the B.C. Cancer Agency, it's not a sentence," she said. "I will definitely get (cancer) and as a result their reaction was, "OK, what's next? There's no point in stressing about it because nothing's really changed - let's move on."
Despite recently losing her grandfather to cancer, Macalister said that attitude has helped her cope with having the breast cancer protein, herself.
"You don't get anything from sweeping it under the rug," she said.
The support from the B.C. Cancer agency and her mother's strength are fuelling Macalister's run in Concrete Hero.
"A lot of the run is more so for her and a thank you to all of the tireless souls at B.C. Cancer Agency," she said. "(It's) a tribute to mom and all of the effort and the energy she's put into first beating breast cancer, but continually being aware that it could come back."
Macalister said she's stepped up her training for the big run and isn't so concerned about fundraising - but hopes to continue the dialogue on cancer.
To donate to Macalister, visit http://ow.ly/oZX92.
