Every October, during breast cancer awareness month, Welwyn Garden City dye our landmarking Coronation Fountain pink. This an effort from the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and Roche UK to spread awareness about the awful condition as well as to encourage regular self exams. The pink Fountain also acts as a tribute to honour all those affected by breast cancer.
This October (2024) marks the 20th time it's been coloured. The colour pink has lots of connotations; softness, warmth, innocence, and is often linked to femininity. With females being the main victims of this disease the colour pink and all its connotations help express empathy, to and for the cause. Inspiring the need for greater research on the topic. In the UK there is the equivalent to 32 people dying of breast cancer every day, showing the magnitude of the problem. One in seven women will get it in their lifetime.
Dr Sandra J Conroy, a retired GP, states how “although people live longer - their quality of life is depreciating, due to increasing illness”. She confesses how she believes that this is down to peoples lifestyle: such as the increase in women drinking alcohol and having babies later in life. Dr Conroy says that having kids under 25 “can act as a protection against breast cancer” similarly with breastfeeding. “The longer you breastfeed, the lower amount of oestrogen is stimulating your breast, reducing the risk of breast cancer.”
Dr Sandra J Conroy, is in fact my mother, and her mother like her grandmother before her suffered fatally from breast cancer. “She was very protective as a mum, so she tried to protect us from all her suffering, and remember her as a mum - not a dying person.” Breast Cancer is a condition that deeply affects mothers, fortunately my grandmother was able to live another 7 years after being diagnosed with stage 2 cancer, due to the treatment she received. “I don't reckon anyone could have done any better for her, she died happily”.
However although she received exceptional treatment she still suffered greatly, she was described as “never sleeping”. She was often found lying on the steps at three in the morning needing to be put to bed and was still up at five talking to my dad when he was off to work. My grandmother, my aunt and my great grandmother are all remembered and tributed to by the pink colour of our town's fountain every October.
A common misconception is that it happens just to people with XX chromosomes, this is not true - men can get it too - with 12,000 worldwide male deaths from breast cancer alone in 2019.
The NHS recent guidelines to try to prevent breast cancer is to quit smoking, decrease drinking to less than 14 units a week, and to lose weight if you are overweight - which is over 60% of the UK's population. This is the same guidelines for most cancers. The colouring of the landmark in Welwyn Garden City is a commendable attribute to the town and is a great way of spreading awareness to the cause so many years after the main breast cancer awareness movement.
