Cancer warrior Fiona Ubisi has used her story and experience to shed light and create awareness of breast cancer among South Africans for a new Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.
Ubisi takes us back to September 2020, seven months into the pandemic while everyone was talking about Covid-19, to how she found out about her breast cancer.
The 27-year-old was working hard to better her life and the life of her baby boy during a global crisis when she felt a lump on her breast and she decided to take all the necessary steps to find out what was going on in her body.
“I immediately made an appointment with a breast cancer specialist,” she recalled. “After a mammogram and biopsy, I was told that I had stage 2 breast cancer.”
Ubisi encouraged women to know their bodies and take action immediately when they feel something oddly different.
“Know your body, and if anything doesn’t feel right, get it checked by a doctor immediately. It’s okay to cry and break down when you need to, but positivity is one of the biggest things that really kept me going,” she shared.
Because of her actions, Ubisi is not just another number. Today she is a Strawberry Lips Breast Cancer Warrior.
Popular liquor brand Strawberry Lips has also challenged South Africans to not be a hothead in their new Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.
This year, the liquor brand continues its work to encourage young South Africans all over the country to check their breasts regularly.
For October, the #DontBeaHothead campaign aims to create awareness and educate young women about early detection, encourage them to talk to their health-care providers and check their breasts.
“Cancer has touched the lives of almost everyone I know, which is why it is so crucial that we continue to educate women about the importance of self-examinations and regular screenings,” said Strawberry Lips marketing manager Vanessa Nel.
According to the NCBI (2020), breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, accounting for 6.6% of all cancer deaths.
In South Africa, it is also the most common cancer among women, accounting for 20.8% of all female cancers. Though the risk for breast cancer increases as a person gets older, many women under the age of 40 have been (and will continue to be) diagnosed.
Whether they don’t know their risk or have never been shown how to check themselves, many young women in South Africa don’t find treatment until it’s too late.
The survival rate for breast cancer once it has reached stages 3 and 4 is only 24%, but if caught early, that survival rate rockets to 93%.