Mayo woman selected as a patient ambassador for Breast Cancer Ireland's Very Pink Run

The countdown is on as Breast Cancer Ireland officially launches the 2025 Very Pink Run, proudly supported once again by Very, Ireland’s leading online retailer.

Back for another year of pink-powered fundraising, this unique, family-focused, festival-style event will see large scale live events take place across Dublin, Cork and Kilkenny between September 6 and 14 – all in support of ground-breaking breast cancer research and nationwide awareness and education programmes.

This year, Mayo native Anne Hopkins has been selected as a patient ambassador for the event. Anne was diagnosed with Her2 positive breast cancer at the end of May 2020. “It was a very frightening time,” she said. “We had gone to Mayo for St. Patrick’s weekend and due to Covid, we stayed for 10 weeks! I was so excited coming back to Dublin to see family and friends, but that night I went to bed and just felt uncomfortable as I lay on my right side. I checked and felt a large solid lump in my right breast, which seemed to have come up with no symptoms of any kind.

“The next morning I saw my GP and she sent an urgent referral. Over the next four weeks I went through the ultrasound, mammogram, and biopsy, followed by bone scan and CT scan. The surgeon was optimistic as he said I acted immediately, and the plan would be chemotherapy followed by mastectomy and radiotherapy if the cancer hadn’t spread.

“I was devastated when I was told it was metastatic and in my liver, and a small spot on my hip bone. I had worked as a nurse and when I trained in the 1970s that would be palliative care, and at that point I couldn’t see any future, only fear and panic.”

Anne continued: “I was referred to an oncologist who was so positive and optimistic about all treatment options, so I began to feel I might have a fighting chance. I had an allergic reaction to the first chemotherapy, which was to be administered every three weeks, and so I started on Taxol, which I received weekly for 18 weeks.

“These 18 weeks were very challenging, with the extra fear of coming into contact with Covid due to such regular hospital attendance. Finding myself in the 'vulnerable' category was frightening and lonely, as most of my family and close friends had to take extra care to keep their distance at a time when I needed them most.”

Anne required other medicines too, which she still receives to this day and will remain on indefinitely, but she continues to live a normal life with very few side effects.

And there has been some good news with regard to her cancer. “After about nine months, I was informed that there was no cancer in the bone and that what the CT scans had shown they now felt was from an old injury. That was such a relief,” Anne said.

“Unfortunately, after the first 12 months, small areas were picked up in lymph nodes so a mastectomy was then recommended as well as lymph node clearance. I was disappointed that even with all the medication – and that included a daily hormone tablet as soon as chemotherapy had finished – the cancer still managed to grow. And yet at the same time, I felt relieved that some of the cancer was being taken away with the mastectomy.”

Anne's scans over the last year have been showing a marked reduction. “I feel positive and make a conscious effort to eat healthily, including a lot of 'cancer fighting' foods in my diet. I walk every day and if I’m not meeting a friend or family to walk with, I listen to podcasts or audio books.

"I started walking every day during Covid and found it a form of mindfulness in those strange days when we couldn’t mix with even our families. Since then, as well as the benefit of exercise, it helps me to cope and feel positive and energetic.”

Anne concluded: “I am so grateful for all the fundraising efforts from my own children and friends and all who promote breast cancer awareness as I know without all the progress with research, my story, like so many others, would be very different.

“Like so many cancer patients, I will always be living with cancer, but with time I have come to accept this. Now I am just happy to store all the memories I get to make with all my family and friends and count every day as another day to enjoy life to the fullest.”

FACES

Aside from Anne, a large group of very well-known faces from the worlds of media, the arts and showbiz have already joined this year’s ‘Very Pink Tribe’ as ambassadors, including: Nicola Hanney, author and breast cancer survivor; Laura Nolan, Dancing with the Stars winner and pro-dancer; Andrea Gilligan, Newstalk presenter; and Elaine Crowley, Virgin Media. They, among others, join long-standing ambassadors Shane Byrne and presenter James Patrice.

Also lending their wholehearted support to the cause are Charlene Flanagan, co-founder of the Mayo-based Ella & Jo skincare brand; Lorraine Keane; and Chris Connolly of Get Better with Chris fame.

The Very Pink Run ambassadors will help rally thousands of supporters across Ireland and abroad to show up, step out, and support the cause, demonstrating that every step taken is a stride towards a future where breast cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease for the one in seven women and one in 738 men diagnosed with this disease in their lifetime.

Participants can take part by running, jogging or walking in one of three live large-scale physical events. Alternatively, people can also take part in a ‘virtual’ sense in their own local communities any time between September 6 and 14.

The live events are aimed at casual strollers, keen walkers, joggers and seasoned runners alike, over a 5k or 10k distance, and are open to families, friends and solo participants. They offer a fun, family festival-style outing with music, games and children’s entertainment.

The 10k event in Dublin starts at 12 noon and the 5k event starts at 12.30 p.m. on Saturday, September 6, at Leopardstown Racecourse. The 10k event in Cork starts at 12 noon and the 5k event starts at 12.30 p.m. on Sunday, September 7, at MTU, Bishopstown, Co. Cork. Finally, the 10k event in Kilkenny starts at 12 noon and the 5k event starts at 12.15 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle Park. Registration for the events is now open on www.verypinkrun.ie.