A time to think pink
WHEN Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was weighing up whether or not to have her ovaries removed last year, she consulted Pink Hope founder Krystal Barter.
WHEN Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie was weighing up whether or not to have her ovaries removed last year, she consulted Pink Hope founder Krystal Barter.
Barter, who underwent a double mastectomy at the age of 25 after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene and subsequently also had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, will be the guest speaker at the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia (NCJWA) NSW’s Jewish Women’s Breast Cancer Network (JWBCN) Pink Monday Morning Tea on October 19.
Her charity, Pink Hope, provides education, guidance and support to women who are at risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.
“Krystal Barter is quite an inspiration, in [demonstrating] that you can get control back over your own life, you don’t have to wait for the disease to get you,” JWBCN chair Mandi Chonowitz-Jacobson told The AJN.
Noting that Jewish women are especially prone to carrying the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of breast or ovarian cancer developing, she added, “What Krystal can bring to our organisation and the Jewish community is the knowledge and the know-how of how to approach it if you do find out [you are positive].
“One of our big aims is we want to raise awareness … I think a lot of young Jewish girls have absolutely no idea, and then if you find someone like Krystal Barter who’s very pretty and young and articulate, I think it will get the young Jewish community engaged.”
As well as creating awareness, Chonowitz-Jacobson said the event serves to “remember the people that have lost their battle” to breast cancer. “It’s a way of honouring them.”
The tea will also see the launch of NCJWA’s new support program, which will start as a series of monthly meetings.
“It’s going to be a place for women to meet who either have had cancer or are currently undergoing cancer treatment,” she said. “It’s a place where they can feel comfortable, and talk and share experiences.”
The tea is in a private home at 10:30am. For more information, call (02) 9363 0257 or email admin@ncjwnsw.org.
GARETH NARUNSKY
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