Ever since losing her 24-year-old daughter to breast cancer in 2005, Lorna Larsen has made it her mission to educate young people on the fact that cancer does not discriminate by age.
Many people don’t know the harrowing statistic that over 8,600 people between the ages of 15-39 are diagnosed in Canada every year.
Shan Larsen had just graduated from university and had planned to go to teachers’ college. But she was misdiagnosed by her health care providers and diagnosed late with metastatic breast cancer.
The cancer quickly spread and she died just four months after her diagnosis.
Since then Lorna, has educated young people all over Canada through presentations at high schools, colleges, and universities, as well as posting billboards as reminders to check your body.
An image of the billboard Team Shan is currently trying to fund (supplied)
“Team Shan is dedicated to reaching young women with their breast cancer risk and breast health information. Our goal is to increase early detection and help improve outcomes for young women diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Lorna.
Their website, teamshan.ca, features a wide range of tips, common symptoms and signs, links, support, and other aspects of education surrounding breast cancer.
Lorna, who worked as a nurse and lactation consultant for many years, took early retirement to volunteer full-time with Team Shan.
Since moving to Huntsville two years ago, she has immersed herself and her charity into the community and said they have been very supportive of Team Shan.
Team Shan has held a golf tournament and bottle drives, and Lorna has also collaborated with Enliven Cancer Care numerous times.
“We really want to continue to raise awareness and education here in Huntsville,” said Lorna. “A young women came up to me in the grocery store here and told me she went to Western University and had seen my talk and it really impacted her. It’s so great to hear that right in our own community.”
In addition to working with Enliven, Team Shan has also facilitated community displays in Huntsville and shared print materials locally to help reach young women and their families. They have also supported the Kelly Shires Snow Run at Hidden Valley resort for a number of years.
“COVID has been hard on small charities like Team Shan,” said Lorna. “With events and fundraisers cancelled due to the pandemic, Team Shan had to think outside the box to continue to raise awareness and support our activities.”
Team Shan hosted a neighbourhood bottle drive in the spring of 2020 raising $260. The current bottle drive has raised $146 to date and will run until Saturday, June 19. Empty wine bottles along with other alcohol and beer cans and bottles can be dropped off at 18 Beechwood Path in Huntsville.
The next fundraiser planned is a virtual golf tournament, which already has a number of Huntsville teams signed up.
Entry costs $20 per person or $60 for a team of four, and all funds will go toward awareness billboards planned for the fall of 2021 on Highway 11.
If you enter the virtual golf tournament, which will run August 13-15, you are also eligible for a number of prizes.
“While the number one sign is a breast lump, the first thing that young women need to know is that they are at risk,” said Lorna. “We need to empower and encourage these women to know their bodies and check their breasts regularly.”
For more information, to sign up for the virtual golf tournament, or to donate to Team Shan, contact Lorna at [email protected].
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