A Selfless Hero

Danishi Bedi

Mrs.Ulewicz
Language Arts
5/27/14

More than 232,000 people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year alone.
Susan G. Komen was not only kind and loving to everyone she met, but also an
individual who changed the society we live in today. Susan G. Komen for the
Cure continues work in more than 30 countries worldwide, striving to look for a cure to
this horrible disease we know as breast cancer. Nan, Susan said, if Mrs. Ford can
admit she has breast cancer and tell the world she intends to fight it, well then so can I.
Susan fought her cancer as hard as she could, and made her sister promise to look
forward to a day where everyone can live in a world without breast cancer. She endured
years of suffering and wished that not even her worst enemy would be diagnosed with
breast cancer. She thought of others needs before her own. She as an individual is a
hero to our world, and is one of the most influential people to have ever lived.
Susans life was not all very crazy. Susans hometown was Peoria, Illinois. After
graduating from college, she came back to Peoria and took up a job modeling. Susan
was very close with her sister, Nancy G. Brinker. Susan also married her high school
sweetheart Stan Komen. At the age of thirty-three, Susan was diagnosed with breast
cancer. Susan had denied having a mastectomy, a surgical procedure to remove a
breast. A mastectomy could get rid of the cancer but it was extremely painful. Her
doctor had told her that he could cure her, but only 6 months after Susan was cured,
another lump was found. Susan went to Houston to get treatment, only to find she was
an IV cancer patient, one of the last and most difficult to treat cancer stages because
the IV stage of cancer means that the cancer had spread to her organs, and was still
growing. She stayed strong and positive when dealing with cancer. It did not control her
life or her.

Susan was very tough through her cancer experience. She stayed strong and
accomplished many things in her life. Susan went through radiation, the burning of
cancer cells, chemotherapy, a treatment of a disease that thins the hair, and had to
have nine operations through the course of her cancer diagnosis. Susan had lost her
three year battle with breast cancer at the age of thirty-six. Susan, thinking of all the
people who were ill, told her sister Nancy to find a cure for this wretched disease that
she had. Nancy began the global movement with two-hundred dollars and a shoebox
filled with names. From that, Susan G. Komen is not only the worlds largest
grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, but also a global community
of scientists, advocates, neighbors, and friends, working together to find a cure. The
organization is sponsored by American Airlines, Ford, New Balance, Self Magazine, and
Walgreens. Because of Susans push on her sister, the Komen Race for the Cure Series
is the worlds largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast
cancer ever created, investing seven-hundred and fifty million dollars towards research.
Susan G. Komen has saved millions of lives, making the 2.9 million breast cancer
survivors the largest group of survivors today. Susan G. Komen had her life cut too
short, but what she did not know was that after she died she was saving more lives than
she could have ever imagined. Susan suffered from pain, but lived her life to as full as
she could, and accomplished many hardships.
Susan G. Komen has impacted all of our lives in one way or another. Whether
you are a breast cancer patient or not, someone dear to you, or in relation to you could
have breast cancer. In the United States, one case of breast cancer is diagnosed every
2 minutes, and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes. A loved one, a

loved one of one of your loved ones, many do die of breast cancer, but with the help of
Susan G. Komen, the breast cancer death rate has fallen thirty percent in the last 20
years. Each year, seventy-five percent of proceeds from the races are awarded through
grants (a non-repayable fund; often from a nonprofit) for local organizations, while the
remaining twenty five percent is directed to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure National
Grant Program to fund research for breast cancer. The organization has invested over
one billion dollars since 1982. To care for people all around the world, saving many
more lives, Susan G. Komen will have thirteen international races in 8 countries, with
more than 150 races globally. Susan G. Komen fights for the cure for all people.
Although breast cancer is rare in men, it is still possible for men to be diagnosed. The
lifetime risk for men to be diagnosed with breast cancer is 1 in 1000 while for women, it
is 1 in 8. Breast cancer survivor, Carolyn Montez Jorgensen, read about the Susan G.
Komen Race For The Cure, and was so passionate about saving lives that she started
the first Central Valley (California) race in 1999. The organization's promise is to save
lives and end breast cancer forever. Through Komen's support, the China Women's
Development Foundation (CWDF) worked with experts to develop a training manual for
breast cancer. Susan G. Komen does not only work internationally, but also nationally
providing more than thirty-five million dollars for over three-hundred community grants
to local programs in the National Capitol Region. The organization cares for breast
cancer patients by caring for the poor, funding clinics that treat people with breast
cancer, paying for their groceries, transportation, wigs, prosthetics, and insurance in
more than thirty countries. Diseases fill our world as a whole, but the organization
believes that where a woman lives, should not determine whether she lives. At the

current rate, approximately forty-two million cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in
women over the next 25 years, while thirteen million breast cancer deaths will occur.
Susan G. Komen has funded more than eight-hundred million dollars in research and
1.6 billion in funding for education, treatment, and support programs serving millions of
people in more than fifty countries worldwide, and also raises tens of millions of dollars
each year. Susan's influence on our lives was astonishing. For someone coming close
to her ending to think about ways of helping the sick is very inspiring. Susan put others
before herself, even in her darkest of hours. Her legacy and soul lives through her
organization, helping all the ill people fighting for their lives as Susan once did. She is a
hero whose last favor to her sister was to help others who need it most.
"Here she was, hardly able to manage a whisper, and she was worrying about
other people, said Susans sister, Nancy. Whenever Susan's family was down, she was
the strong one, bringing much joy and laughter that got them all through the day. She
cared for all people, bringing her care, even after she died, to millions of people around
the world. The organization began as a promise, but now has transformed into an
organization that ensures quality and care for all. Susan G. Komen was one of the most
strong and influential people in our world, and should be remembered as just that. I urge
you to be the person that Susan was, one who puts others before themselves, because
that is who the real heroes are, the ones who do not think of themselves first.