North Carolina State University Athletics
Yow kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Raleigh
9/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
For NC State women’s head coach Kay Yow, those are the same things that make October the perfect time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“This time of year, you have high hopes for the season,” said Yow, who is preparing to begin her 32nd season as NC State’s head women’s basketball coach. “And you have high hopes for what might be in the future for breast cancer.
“So for me, this is the perfect month for breast cancer awareness.”
Yow, who has twice battled the disease that affects more than 200,000 people annually, joined more than 50 breast cancer survivors, including Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov, Friday morning at the Panera Bread at The Lassiter in
Through-out the month of October, Panera Bread will offer Pink Ribbon bagels in each of its 12 Triangle and Pinehurst locations, with 25 cents from each bagel sold going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation’s Triangle affiliate. Last year, a similar campaign raised more than $250,000 nationally for the Komen Foundation.
Perlov, Raleigh’s Police Chief since 2001, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and immediately went through treatment. She thanked Yow Friday for being one of the first people to call to wish her well in her recovery and called the Hall of Fame coach one of her “personal heroes.”
Yow was eager to take a little time from her preparation for the coming campaign to serve as the honorary chair of Friday’s “In the Pink” survivors’ breakfast.
Arriving in a pink Cadillac with a police escort, Yow spoke to a gathering of more than 50 local breast cancer survivors, offering words of hope and inspiration, and to share one of the ribbon-shaped bagels and some hot coffee. According to the American Cancer Society, there are more than 2 million cancer survivors living in the
Afterwards, Yow explained why she has been so active in raising awareness for a disease that claims nearly 40,000 lives per year.
“I have been involved with sports and it has been great to me,” Yow said. “I have always felt like I need to give back to sports for what it has given me. Then, I had to fight a disease like breast cancer and you realize so many people are being diagnosed, each day, each week, each year. I feel a real responsibility to give back, in some way, to encourage other people, to say I have been there, I felt that and I found a way to feel better about it and do something about it.’”
Yow has served as a spokesman for breast cancer awareness ever since she was first diagnosed with the disease in 1987. She had a recurrence of the disease in 2004, forcing her to miss two weeks of the 2004-05 season.
“This is something I want to be a part of, to encourage other people to help in some small way, to make things better,” Yow said. “Breast cancer sensitizes you in every way. It’s always a reminder of the precious gift of life and that you should make use of each and every moment we have here. You simply never know. You wake up one morning and you are diagnosed with a disease and from that point on, you don’t know what might happen with the rest of your life.
“I think it really inspires you to give the best that you have in everything you do.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
