TOLEDO, OHIO. April 26, 2016 – Susan G. Komen Northwest Ohio® will host breast cancer activist Annie Parker at its fundraising event Power of the Promise on April 28, 2016 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. at Inverness Country Club.
Annie Parker was one of the first women to undergo testing that confirmed—for the first time—that the BRCA1 gene was responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers. Annie’s life story was the inspiration for the 2013 film Decoding Annie Parker starring Samantha Morton, Helen Hunt, and Aaron Paul.
Annie’s story began at age 14 when her mother died from breast cancer. Twelve years later, her sister, Joan, died from the same disease. When Annie’s doctors told her it was “just bad luck”, she didn’t believe them. She became convinced that there had to be a genetic link for certain types of cancer.
In 1980, Annie developed breast cancer and had a mastectomy. In 1988, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 ovarian cancer. She had a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, followed by chemotherapy.
Meanwhile, Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist at the University of California, Berkeley, was researching the genetic roots of the disease, and discovered the gene that is responsible for many breast and ovarian cancers: BRCA1.
Annie will speak about her experiences at the Power of the Promise event and will be available for comment at the event.
The Power of the Promise event will also feature a presentation about what Komen Northwest Ohio does for the Northwest Ohio community.
Event details: Cocktails start at 6 p.m. and the dinner and program will begin at 7 p.m.
