Hartsfield-Jackson honors survivors during Breast Cancer Awareness Month
ATL honors survivors during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Sisters By Choice offered complimentary breast exams to uninsured and underinsured ATL employees on Oct. 4 and 23 at the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal. © 2017 Decisive Moment Events
By Anika Robertson
Senior Editor/Assistant Public Relations Manager
Shades of pink dotted the International Terminal on Wednesday as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) marked national Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its second annual Survivor Celebration.
ATL Office of Public Affairs Director Myrna White said we don’t often pair the term “celebration” with breast cancer. “But thanks to advances in modern medicine, national campaigns to promote early detection and education, and the life-changing work of groups such as Sisters By Choice, I’m here today to tell you this is a celebration,” said White, who was joined by City of Atlanta first lady Sarah-Elizabeth Langford Reed and dozens of survivors and other dignitaries.
Back for a second year, local nonprofit Sisters By Choice brought its Mobile Breast Clinic to ATL to provide care to uninsured and underinsured employees for two days this month. Headed by Dr. Rogsbert Phillips-Reed, the organization offers breast examinations, digital mammograms and diagnostic care.
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. “Unfortunately,” White said, “thousands of individuals will not receive lifesaving screenings and treatment because they either lack access – or lack the resources – to obtain quality breast care.”
Breast cancer signage is on display at ATL throughout the month, and many Airport employees distributed pink lanyards.
Phillips-Reed said her 28-year-old organization celebrates survivorship while remembering those who lost their lives. “There [are] over 3 million women throughout the United States living after being diagnosed with breast cancer,” Phillips-Reed said. “It says that we are doing something good about this disease … we have made progress.”
Survivor Latosha Key McDade, diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28, facilitates the Sisters By Choice Emory Midtown support group. “I use this journey to hold the hands of other women,” the seven-year survivor said. “While everyone’s journey is a little different, my purpose … is to help them get through that journey knowing that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
Journalist and former news anchor JaQuitta Williams is celebrating her 10th year of being cancer free. She expressed gratitude for her experience. “It taught me how to live on purpose,” said the host of TBN’s “Joy In Our Town.” “No matter what happens,” she said, “every day is a good day because life is a beautiful thing.”
