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Friday, June 27, 2008
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HOPE TREK Six friends going the extra miles for the cause Senior Reporter LITTLE FALLS - Six friends. Three days. Sixty miles. One hope.
A group of women, mostly from Little Falls, is planning to walk 20 miles a day for three days - all with the hope of making a difference in the fight against breast cancer.
The team, Friends United for a Cure - Frannetastic, includes Brigid Fitzgerald, Mary Pfohl, Susy Prosapio and her daughter Luci Prosapio and Catherine Stoch Kapsner. The women have been training for months, walking more and more miles each week. Beginning Aug. 15, they'll walk 60 miles in three days in Boston. They'll be joined by another member of the team. Franne McNeal of Philadelphia, Susy Prosapio's college classmate and a breast cancer survivor, was the inspiration for the team's first walk.
McNeal, Fitzgerald and Susy Prosapio walked in the Breast Cancer 3-Day in Philadelphia last fall. The other team members going to Boston are taking part in the walking marathon for the first time.
Fitzgerald and Prosapio said there was a common bond between walkers who had never met before the event. Some talked about finishing cancer treatments. Others talked about sisters or families. For many, there was a personal experience with breast cancer. All along the walking route, there was information on breast cancer and supporters urging them on. In Philadelphia, they remembered seeing a man along the route with two small children in a wagon and a sign saying "thanks for walking for my mom."
"It was awe inspiring," Fitzgerald said. "The people who work it were always in a good mood. It was amazing. Along the route there are people just there thanking you and we are just walking. We're doing the easy part."
They saw people walking and wearing shirts saying "I miss you mom," and a woman who participated in the walk who had her legs amputated after serving in Iraq. And humor was part of the event, including men wearing shirts saying "Save second base."
Luci Prosapio, 19, said she was at school in California and showing friends photos of her mom's first walk last year.
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About the event
-Learn more about the Breast Cancer 3-Day online at - www.the3day.org - benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and National Philanthropic Trust.
- The event raises funds for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment.
- To contribute to Friends United for a Cure - Frannetastic or to check on their fundraising goal, click on the donation link at www.the3day.org and then type in the team name or member's name.
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"I was really proud my mom was doing it," she said. This year Luci decided to join her mom on the walk. Luci said she's also walking for a friend who's mom is a breast cancer survivor. She said she now has the friend's perspective of what it's like to have a parent going through that battle.
As the team has received checks of support they've gotten notes from people saying they were giving for a family member, maybe a mother or sister.
"I almost find it hard to believe that there is anybody who doesn't know somebody with cancer," Kapsner said. She thought about the daunting distance of 60 miles before agreeing to join the team. But then thought of her friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 29. Kapsner remembered her friend being given two weeks to decide whether to cut off part of her body to survive.
"I just saw this remarkable woman deal with this huge infringement on her body, her soul, her life and she's emerged. She's a survivor. She's got a 5-year-old son now," Kapsner said. "But it made me go you are a complete wiener if you can't walk 60 miles on something that could make a huge impact.'"
Pfohl said she thinks about people she's known who have battled breast cancer and those who didn't survive.
"Seeing that exit and how that took place has made it real clear to me," Pfohl said. "It's a horrendous thing to watch. I wouldn't want anyone else to go through that. Walking is a way to impact it and change it. People should go from this life to the next with more dignity than cancer, than breast cancer, allows."
Raising awareness by participating in the event also is a way to get people to talk about breast cancer, early detection and what can be done to deal with it whether male or female. It's about hope, Pfohl said, and a belief that things will be different in the future.
"We know our country has a capacity to give," Fitzgerald said. "We know that with every disaster that comes around. We know that people respond because it affects all of us. It's generosity of spirit. It's not just generosity of the pocketbook."
The women said they gained from the camaraderie and friendship of the group and found inspiration in the walk and people they met along the way. They are thinking San Diego and Minneapolis will be cities they'll go to for the walks in the future.
"They are rich women in soul," Kapsner said of the group. "And it's fun to be a part of it."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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