Kristelle's story

Why Kristelle Thomsen walks.

I lost my grandmother, Joy Ford to breast cancer 12 years ago.

This was particularly devastating as she had given up having mammograms at 69, believing statistically she was too old to develop breast cancer. Free mammograms end at age 69 and my beloved Nan honestly had no idea that her risk actually increased with age. Neither did we! Continuing with mammograms potentially would have saved her life! Even more alarming, back then, 90% of women believed that risk decreased not increased after 69.

Breast cancer has severely impacted my family as I've also seen my mother-in-law beat it twice.

It just seems impossible to get away from. It is therefore a cause so close to my heart.

I'm really lucky to work for Clinique, a company that already immensely supports breast cancer awareness globally.

Historically, thanks to the amazing support of Estée Lauder Companies/ Clinique and my boss Stuart Thompson, of Life Pharmacy St Lukes, I've successfully raised (over a number of years) $47k for BCFNZ through a series of charity evenings.

It's just the best feeling in the world doing something, no matter how small. I started towards raising funds for this incredible cause because our mothers, gandmothers, sisters and friends need us to. Any of us could be facing breast cancer at any stage of our lives.

Funds raised by the Pink Ribbon Walk are vital. I saw firsthand how both my grandmother and mother-in-law benefited from the support and services provided by BCFNZ in their times of need. There are no words for how integral they are.

I'm even more amazed after visiting "Pinkie” - the Foundation’s Pink Caravan last week. The services and resources extend further than ever in 2020 and include an app that provides an online community for Kiwis affected by cancer, allowing them to be in touch with other people to connect and share, all with support from a breast nurse.