'Luckily found it early': Woman recently diagnosed with breast cancer runs for cure
Two weeks ago, Leah Warner got the scariest news of her life.
“I’m just trying to process it,” says Warner of a stage one, grade one breast cancer diagnosis.
She had a large team of supporters Sunday at the CIBC Run for the Cure at Victoria Park in London, Ont.
After her recent diagnosis, her husband Jay and friends started fundraising and came up with $15,000 in just a couple of weeks.
“I noticed something and went to my doctor,” says Warner.
“He didn’t think it was anything but he pushed and it turned out to be something. I found it early so people definitely need to trust your instincts.”
Returning to an in-person event for the first time in three years, more than 800 people packed the park for either a one km walk, or a five km run.
Over 800 participants took part in the CIBC Run for the Cure in downtown London, Ont. Local Organizers say they raised more than $275,000 this year. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) “With the stats of one-in-four women getting breast cancer, it's really hard to say that you haven't been touched with breast cancer, whether it's your family member, someone you know, your co-worker or yourself,” says Meghann Geddis, the local run director.
“That's why it's important for us to fundraise and come together and support the people in our lives that have been touched with breast cancer.”
Geddis says the local total raised from Sunday’s run will surpass $275,000. Through the Canadian Cancer Society the funds will help with research, prevention, education and supports for those living with breast cancer.
When it comes to fundraising for this run, there aren’t many people more valuable than Katherine Butson.
“I cannot tell you what it feels like to be told you have cancer,” says Butson. “It literally turns your world upside down.”
Diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer nine years ago, she’s raised close to $225,000 since starting a team.
“When I was first diagnosed, a mother from my son's school approached me and said ‘let's do team Katherine Butson and run for the cure,’” says Butson who credits her 10-year-old son for getting her through her diagnosis.
“At that time I didn't know what the Run for the Cure was in 2013. We raised $32,000 that year, and next year we hope to be at $250,000 total.”
In 2013, Butson says there was no research done on her type of breast cancer.
“I can say now that after raising so many funds that there has now been a research project started,” says Butson.
Prior to the run, survivors were called to the front of the stage, where they held a moment of silence to reflect on why everyone in attendance was running and walking.
Breast Cancer survivors pause for a moment of silence prior to the CIBC Run for the Cure at Victoria Park in London, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV London)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.