By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: In cooperation with Al-Fatat Sport Club and the National Cancer Awareness Campaign (CAN) to raise awareness of breast cancer in Pink October, a friendly football match was held on Friday between white and pink teams, which included female cancer survivors, ending 7-0 in favor of the survivors' pink team.

A campaign was launched by CAN titled "Your Health is a Crown". Hessa Al-Shaheen, Member of CAN's Board of Directors, Member of the Executive Committee and President of the Breast Cancer Initiative, said the campaign's priority is to follow up and communicate with women survivors, so this year the campaign focused on involving them in many activities, including the football match, through which they proved that recovering women who bravely conquered the disease are able to lead a normal life.

The first goal was scored was by one of the recovering women, which aroused the enthusiasm of the audience. "The campaign's partners played a role in the success of its activities, including Al-Fatat Sport Club, whose support contributed to this event, as well as Boutiqaat, one of the partners of the campaign," Shaheen said.

"In cooperation with CAN and Al-Fatat Sport Club, we held a friendly football match for women who are recovering from cancer. This event aims to raise awareness for the importance of sports activities as a way to fight cancer, especially since obesity is one of the main factors that could cause breast cancer and other types of cancers," said Dr Maryam Al-Otaibi, Consultant Oncologist at the Kuwait Center for Cancer Control and a Member of the CAN Executive Campaign.

"This is not the first cooperation between us and Al-Fatat. We still have other activities for October, as it is breast cancer awareness month and will include exhibitions, workshops and lectures related to awareness to urge early examination for breast cancer, in addition to the importance of reducing cancer risk factors," she added.

Mai Abdulkarim Al-Ali, a survivor of head and breast cancer, told Kuwait Times: "This is my first participation in CAN events, and it was a great experience that gave us the encouragement and power to continue participating in such important events. We appreciate support from all society members, not only this month but during the whole year, by holding awareness campaigns to support survivors or those who are still fighting the disease."

Ali pointed out she has noticed a major change in cancer awareness over the years. "I was diagnosed with head cancer 20 years ago, and had no information about the disease back then. When I was diagnosed again with breast cancer, I noticed a great change that happened over the years regarding cancer awareness in the society," she said. "All women should undergo early examination for breast cancer since it can be treated in the early stages. Checkups can either be at the hospital or through regular self-examinations at home, especially for women under 40," she pointed out.

Hanan Al-Khaldi

Hanan Al-Khaldi, a two-time breast cancer survivor, stressed that suffering from this disease doesn't mean losing hope from life. Despite losing a part of her body, she insisted to remain strong and become a real warrior. "Cancer gave me the time to focus on my power and increase it to be more strong against the disease and fight back. While it was not easy, I appreciated life and wanted to stay strong for my children, family and people I love. I was able to fight it till the end," she said.

"When I was diagnosed the second time with breast cancer, it was much easier for doctors to treat it, due to the early stages it was in and the periodic examination I was regularly undergoing. Therefore, I advise women and girls to do early examination regularly. I became a social activist for breast cancer awareness, because I noticed there was weakness in awareness in the society regarding this disease. People still don't understand that breast cancer can be treatable in the early stages," Khaldi added.

Aisha Al-Juhail

Aisha Al-Juhail, a three-time breast cancer survivor, said: "In 2013, I was the youngest person in Kuwait who was diagnosed with nongenetic breast cancer. The first support for me was having faith in God - I was sure in His ability to heal me. After that I appreciated the support from my family and friends, who made me stay strong against this disease. Also, I had to maintain my inner strength in order to show my loved ones that I was still strong enough to fight back."

Juhail, a real warrior, was able to bear the tough conditions of being afflicted with cancer after losing a fetus and a close family member. But she stayed strong to get rid of the disease and had hope again in life. On the reason that gave her the strength to face the disease, she said: "My mother and brothers are the most important in my life, and I was maintaining my strength because of them."

She stressed that cancer awareness shouldn't be limited to one month a year, calling on women to not only take care of their outside health, but also their inside health in order to prevent such suffering in the future.