This is a bit round about but it is a blog post by one of Amanda's friends which explains a few things and then there is a link to an article written by the CEO of National Breast Cancer Foundation(NBCF), one of our main research places. The first link is the important one.
Amanda did make a difference. Also it was good to be surrounded by red at her funeral, instead of pink.
Blog post by Merylee Punchard:
Wanted to share this with you all.... Xxx We can make a difference!
Just got an email from National Breast Cancer Foundation. Too long to copy and paste. But it made me so happy - even tho yesterday we said goodbye to a YPS - Amanda Rynne - she is not forgotten.
Besides her family and friends she has left behind a legacy.
Amanda would speak frequently and openly about having stage 4 breast cancer. She really hated the breast cancer language. Like Fighter, Survivor, or just as simple as she lost the fight. A few weeks ago she posted on NBCF facebook page this :- Amanda Rynne
October is so hard. Even harder this year as I am, at 41, just 31 months after my 'caught early' diagnosis receiving palliative care. I read these posts and all I can do is cry - all this talk of fighting and winning and beating cancer. I've fought bloody hard - do people realize this is an unwinnable fight for anyone diagnosed with advanced disease? Do they realize this imagery and wording implies those who die weren't up to the fight? That we are losers and failures? When will we focus on this as a hideous and fatal disease it is that still kills 7 Australians everyday instead of prettying it up with a pink ribbon?
Today I get an email from NBCF trying to get in contact with Amanda. Sadly I had to break the bad news she had passed away. They then informed me of how much Amanda's post changed the way they thought and worded things. They have changed the language on their website and now planning on changing their promotional stuff too and their CEO also wrote this:
http://bit.ly/1d0agAM
Amanda is the lady the CEO writes about.
Amanda changed a major company like NBCF - We can do anything!
Editorial Comment – A Darker Shade of Pink
www.nbcf.org.au
It’s time to remember that pink has many shades, some lighter, some darker, and not all stories will have a happy ending, but they all deserve to be told.
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