To the Editor:

My name is Emma Burbridge, and I’m in the seventh grade at Hollis Brookline Middle School. In 2014, my mother got diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the scariest moment of my life.

From that moment on, the house was filled with phone calls about seeing a certain doctor in this profession and set­ting dates for doctor visits and surgery. There was discus­sion about what she wanted to happen during her surgery. It was all very stressful and scary, but my mother stayed strong through all of it.

We knew nothing about breast cancer, so that made things even more stressful at the beginning. My family and I started to calm down a lot once we started to get reassurance and facts about this subject.

People do not know where to go or where to look for reli­able facts about breast cancer except the Web, which isn’t always right about everything. Since the Hollis Brookline Journal is so popular, many who read the journal might relate to this topic. Women and men should be more aware of the dangers, treatments and options for breast cancer.

I learned that African-American women have an even higher number of deaths occurring from breast cancer. Breast cancer is also affecting 11 percent of women 45 years of age and younger. African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer because of late detection, but it’s more common for women in the U.S. to be diagnosed with breast cancer (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Breast cancer is something that affects as many as 200,000 women per year.

When people think of breast cancer, they think women, but it also occurs in men even though it’s not as common (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

I believe that breast cancer may not be the most dangerous cancer that there is, but it still is fatal.

Many may not know, but October is breast cancer aware­ness month. This month is celebrated by so many people because they were able to survive breast cancer.

Some communities and towns have annual runs that give encouragement for others. I strongly believe that Hollis and Brookline should have an annual 5K run to help raise awareness for those who know nothing about breast cancer and the dangers of it.

Emma Burbridge

Hollis Brookline Middle School