Pink Meet hits close to home
Second annual event to raise awareness of breast cancer means something special to Claire Pierce, whose mom is a survivor
Lindsay Schnell
Issue date: 2/2/07 Section: Sports
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The junior, a member of the OSU gymnastics team, was in the middle of the youth camp the team hosts each summer, as kids of all ages scrambled around playing a game.
Then her cell phone rang.
On the other end of the line was Claire's mom, Bette, a spunky 53-year-old who went running five days a week and had never had serious health problems. Her news floored Claire: Bette had breast cancer.
"I wasn't expecting it," Claire said. "It kinda caught me off guard."
"I had to make several calls like that," Bette said. "So I waited until I had already had the biopsy. I knew she would be very worried."
So worried, in fact, that Claire called her dad, Tim, at work later that day to make sure Bette was telling the truth.
But there was also good news for the Pierce family - if there were any type of breast cancer to get, this was the best kind. From the beginning, Bette knew her chances at survival were high.
"I knew it wasn't going to be a life sentence," she said.
Nonetheless, the news took its toll on Claire, just 20 years old.
"I had to leave the group because I started crying and got pretty emotional," Claire said. "I think it was the idea of the breast cancer that really scared me."
Tonight, Claire will take the floor with Bette on her mind as the Beavers host Arizona State in their second annual Pink Meet, an event designed to raise awareness for breast and cervical cancer.
"It hits closer to home now," said OSU coach Tanya Chaplin. "Obviously when you have family members that are going through this and we can do something to support the cause, it makes a big difference."
According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 178,480 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the end of 2007. And many will not be as fortunate as Bette: Of that 178,480, more than 20 percent will succumb to the disease and die.
"I just think things like Pink Meets and the Relay for Life are so incredible, and I know personally how important they are," Bette said. "It's because of the money they make that there's all this progress."
It's because of that progress that Bette, now 54, is able to still watch her daughter compete.
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