76-year-old Delhi based Rekha Gulabani was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. The doctor told her that if she gets treated, she will live another four years, else maximum one year. She underwent the treatment and “it’s been 26 years and I am still living.” Now she has devoted her life building cancer awareness and banishing myths. “After the age of 30, everyone should go for screening whether a man (men too have it) or a woman and catch cancer as early as possible,” says Gulabani.
As a breast cancer survivor, the lady is trying to build awareness in villages where women typically react with one of these three responses– “Don’t utter this word. Speaking about cancer causes cancer. Second is, since I am a woman, even if I die, what difference will it make to the world. And third, whatever is written in my destiny, will happen and nothing can change it.” She vehemently condemns this approach and urges everyone to fight cancer proactively.
“It’s tough. Fighting cancer is not easy. It tests you but you have to defeat cancer. There is no other choice you have,” says Yuvraj Singh, Founder- Yuvraj Singh Foundation (YouWeCan), a non-profit organization established by cricketer and cancer survivor Yuvraj Singh. Singh shares – “My nani and masi had breast cancer. The point is that I have seen them suffer. I have suffered myself. Cancer is around, it can happen to anyone. Everybody has 1% cancer cells in their body. Anytime anything could go wrong. That’s the fact which we as humans try to run away from.”
He is currently part of a breast cancer initiative in collaboration with Xiaomi India. The ‘Swasth Mahila Swasth Bharat’ project aims to screen 1,50,000 women for breast cancer over 12 months across 15 states, focusing on under-represented and under-resourced communities. According to Muralikrishnan B, President of Xiaomi India, “The stark reality that a woman in India dies of breast cancer every 6 minutes, with 70% of cases diagnosed in advanced stages due to lack of screening, underscores the urgency of our mission. Together, we aim to break stigmas, spread awareness, and enable early detection.”
The fight against cancer is daunting in every way. “I had to sell my gold and my house for my treatment,” says breast cancer survivor Anchal Sharma who is now cancer free and running an NGO-Meals of happiness charitable trust.
You cannot fight something alone, says Yuvraj Singh. If you and me are together, we can fight anything. Why just cancer? When somebody is going through cancer, they need positive people who can pull them through. My family, my close friends, they have pulled me through adversity with their positivity.”
“It could be your mother, your wife, sister or daughter who might be struggling with breast cancer. Our goal is to empower women with knowledge and early detection tools,” adds Singh.