Hartford’s Bushnell Park was painted pink as thousands took a step to finish the fight against breast cancer.
For many, the journey is a personal one. Rebecca Theriaque was the first volunteer to arrive at Bushnell Park Sunday. Hours before the sun was up, in the dark of night, she began setting up for an event near and dear to her heart: The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.
“They helped me when I was going through losing my mother to pancreatic cancer. I am a cancer survivor myself, and my son is a cancer survivor, and my father is a cancer survivor,” said Theriaque.
Soon, an army of volunteers showed up to help set the stage for the American Cancer Society’s largest nationwide breast cancer research fundraiser.
“I’m so proud to be a part of this walk. We’ve got the biggest most amazing hearts in our community and it’s great to see them raise this much money for something that’s this close to my heart,” said Theriaque.
By the time the walk stepped off, close to $230,000 had been raised by more than 3,000 people. Twenty-thousand dollars came from one woman, Lynn Torsiello, who collected four times more donations than anyone else.
“People are out there, they hear your story, and they want to help you,” Torsiello explained.
Local
A breast cancer survivor, Torsiello is now battling a second time.
“I don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through. It’s hard for me to go through this, but it’s worse for people to watch me go through it,” Torsiello.
While some walked to raise money, others come for the camaraderie.
“As a caregiver, was at times exhausting, and I felt like a failure, and it wasn’t until I reached out for help through the doctors and my family that I realized that I wasn’t in it alone,” Maureen DePierro of Cromwell.
Breast cancer bonded these families together. Now, they hope to finish the fight many of their loved ones and they themselves started.
Meteorologist Bob Maxon served as the emcee as NBC Connecticut was a proud sponsor of this Partners in Caring Community Event.
