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Cancer fight is Farr from over
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- It has been eight years since Heather Farr lost her fight with breast cancer. But Farr's memory and the message of her battle are still alive. Last week Farr's friends rallied together to raise money for breast-cancer awareness while her sister made headlines. On Sunday Missy Farr-Kaye, herself a breast-cancer survivor who just recently resumed her golf career, finished second in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship at Kemper Lakes Golf Club in Long Grove, Ill.
LIFE, which was founded in 1999, is the brainchild of veteran Val Skinner, who had a breast-cancer scare of her own. "I was lucky," said Skinner, whose tumor was benign. "I knew what to do and where to go to get it checked out. Many women in their 20s and 30s don't because they don't even think about it happening to them." In 1995, on the sidelines with a shoulder injury, Skinner turned her energies to running a charity pro-am event. In its first three years her tournament raised nearly $500,000 for breast-cancer research, but, more important, she learned about self-examination. Skinner was up for the challenge of trying to fight this disease. "Being competitive comes naturally," Skinner said. "In golf, we are competitive against Old Man Par. Now I was being competitive with the disease." Unfortunately, the LPGA is all too familiar with breast cancer. Besides Farr, the tour has lost Cathy Ahern and Susan Jackson, a rules official, to this disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that 192,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed in 2001. "What young women need to understand about breast cancer is you don't necessarily die," Skinner said. "Sure, there have been many deaths, but many young women have detected this disease early and gone on to lead happy and normal lives." It was one these survivors who actually motivated Skinner to make her little pro-am bigger and better. At the LPGA's 50th anniversary celebration last year at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., Skinner, on hand to receive the Komen Award, had a discussion with Diane Balma, the director of public policy with the Komen Foundation. "I was telling her that I was a strong believer in early detection, and she said, 'I couldn't agree more,'" Skinner remembered. "She then told me she had survived breast cancer. I was like, Wow. Just to meet someone who had beat this disease and is now working toward helping others truly inspired me." Skinner has now made the LIFE Event one of the most successful one-day charity pro-ams in the world. Thanks to some heavy hitters, like Sovereign Bank, Roache Oncology, Qualcare and Ortho-bio-tech Oncology, the tournament has raised more than $1 million dollars in just two years. This year's event was tabbed as a celebration of survivorship of young women: "Our heroes are all of the women who were diagnosed in their 20s and 30s and are here to tell us about it," Skinner said. Like Kaye-Farr. A mother of two sons, Kaye-Farr underwent a bilateral mastectomy in April 1998. Skinner says Heather, who was 28 when she died, probably saved Missy's life because she raised awareness about the disease. "I know she would be proud," Skinner said. "She would applaud us and love the work that is happening." To learn more about the fight against breast cancer, call 1-866-8882-LIFE. Send donations to: Val Skinner Foundation
Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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