Survivor: ‘Treated like queens’ during Komen Race (VIDEO)

Runners in the Hays 2013 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Twenty-year breast cancer survivor Mary Juenemann Braden plans to be front and center early Saturday morning at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Hays.

Braden was 43 years old when a routine mammogram by a Hays doctor revealed her breast cancer. Her 43-year-old niece, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, will travel from Colorado Springs with her family to also participate.

This is the third year for the Komen race in Hays–the smallest community in the country to host the annual fundraiser–according to Jennifer Teget, chairperson of the local race.

Braden said she and the many “Sisters of Survivorship” are “treated like queens” during the event.

“I don’t know how many survivors really celebrate their survivorship. They go through their treatment and do everything. But until there is an event–something that really marks that survivorship–I think a lot don’t really realize what a big deal it is…until they have that special moment to say ‘Oh my God, I DID do it. I’m here,'” she said in a whispered voice.

“Of course, men get breast cancer too, but female breast cancer survivors really do have a ‘sisterhood,’–it’s such a part of our identity,” Braden said.

“Last year the Hays Breast Care Center at the Dreiling/Schmidt Cancer Institute received a grant of $45,861 from monies raised in Kansas during the Komen Race for the Cure,” Teget said. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment received $122,884 for its program “Early Detection Works” which provides low-cost breast screenings for women ages 40 to 64.

Jennifer Teget, Hays race chairperson, and Mary Juenemann Braden, Hays breast cancer survivor

Donations to the Hays Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure may be made online. Seventy-five percent of the funds raised go to 95 counties in Kansas; the remaining 25 percent is used by Komen to fund breast cancer research.

Registration starts at 7 a.m. Saturday in Hays Municipal Park, the 5K starts at 8 a.m. with the Family Fun Walk at 9:15 a.m., and the event concludes with the awards ceremony and survivor celebration at 10 a.m. A survivor breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m.