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Pink is the new silver and gold in Altoona, at least for the month of October.
On Thursday, members of the Altoona Police Department received new badges to pin on the chest of their uniforms.
The badges – which combines Pepto Bismol pink and black with silver gold – are hard to miss against officers' black shirts.
That's the point, said Officer Jeff Machusak, who approached police Chief Jesse James about the badge.
Machusak lost his 76-year-old mother, Arlene Johnson, to cancer in December 2016.
"It was quick," said Machusak, who was diagnosed with cancer and undergoing two surgeries. "I was thinking she was in rough shape, but she would recover."
Johnson did not have breast cancer, but the goal is to get rid of breast cancer, and colonoscopies.
While there are different guidelines, the American Cancer Society recommends women at average risk for breast cancer.
However, if they want to, according to the ACS website.
In addition to mammograms, James – a son, husband and father to daughters – reminds women to do self-breast exams and to go to the doctor if they find a lump or a change in their breasts.
"These women are important to us, and we want them to stick around," said James, who had a relative to breast cancer and knows more about it.
His department is not the first in the world to purchase pink badges. Green Bay police Lt. Steve Mahoney came up with the idea in 2016, a ribbon of hope.
More than 100 officers bought the badges in 2016, with Mahoney said. In the years that followed, officers could wear the pink badges in October.
In return, they were asked to make a $ 25 donation to go to Ribbon of Hope.
Mahoney has continued to wear his pink badge, and he is asked about it, he said. Some people even share stories about how to breast cancer has impacted them, a wife, a mother or a sister.
Common cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Currently, the average risk of breast cancer in the United States is 12 percent, or 1 in 8.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women; only lung cancer kills more women every year. There are more than 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S., according to ACS statistics. This includes women who are still treated and those who have completed treatment.
Mahoney's wife, Jen, is one of them. In December 2014, Jen, then 42, was diagnosed with tubular carcinoma breast cancer following a mammogram.
"Obviously, it was a shock and a scare," Mahoney said. "She did not feel any lump. The cancer was extremely small, but they caught it quickly. "
Jen opted to have a double mastectomy, followed by reconstructive surgery, and she is cancer-free. Because of his wife's experience, Mahoney is a big proponent of mammograms, and he encourages women to get the screening done.
"I believe it saved my wife 's life," said Mahoney, who shares his wife' s story with others.
"Before my wife had breast cancer, it was uncomfortable for me," he said, adding that the symptoms of breast cancer, its symptoms, screening tools and treatment options. "It's important because this cancer could affect anyone at anytime."
Contact: 715-830-5838, [email protected], @CTOBrien on Twitter
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