Cancer goes over the falls

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Kelli Cravey, Cancer Society of Western New York special events director, directs Americans and Canadians dressed in pink to join hands on the Rainbow Bridge as they form a human chain against Breast Cancer during the Hard Rock’s “Pinktober” event.

October 8, 2011

By Timothy Chipp Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Sat Oct 08, 2011, 11:19 PM EDT

NIAGARA FALLS — The mission is to end the threat of breast cancer. The way they achieve it is through events like Hard Rock Cafe’s Pinktober.

Saturday, the rock & roll-themed restaurant chain’s Niagara Falls locations joined forces with both the American and Canadian cancer societies to make a ribbon of cloth and human beings that spanned the length of the Rainbow Bridge’s pedestrian pathway.

Just one aspect of the Pinktober initiative locally, the Living Ribbon event is one local individuals should take pride in, said Dominic Verni, general manager of Hard Rock Cafe in the states.

“We’re the only ones nationally who do this event,” he said. “We made it up.”

For those participating Saturday, the event was one to remember. There was the joining of Americans and Canadians on the bridge as the two groups came together for the ceremony. There was the music, played throughout the night, including a performance by Steven Page, the former lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies.

There was also the lights illuminating the backdrop, turning the falls pink for 15 minutes.

“It was a good time,” said Mary Dewysocki, a member of the Niagara Falls division of the Ladies of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. “It was fun.”

Dewysocki was joined by several members of the organization, including Robin Stack and Patti Mahoney. But they said they all participated because members of the organization have been affected by breast cancer, whether it be them or friends or relatives.

And as a ladies organization, their link to breast cancer is tremendous. According to Kelli Cravey, a senior director at the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the largest health risk to women in the United States.

“It’s not the No. 1 killer,” she said. “But it’s the No. 1 health risk to women. Early detection is the key with this disease. It’s nearly 100 percent curable as long as it’s found quickly.”

She said women need to begin screening at age 40, or if it runs in the family, 10 years before the age it had been diagnosed in. So if a mother is diagnosed at 40 years old, a daughter should begin examinations at 30.

And for those who are diagnosed, the disease comes with a support group filled with love and care, as well as all the information needed to beat the disease. But it’s not built in, so new patients need to remember to contact the society for the benefits.

“It’s such a different disease now-a-days,” she said. “They’ll find it’s an amazing core of women here to help. But we can’t contact you, you have to contact us.”

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