Mrs Abbott, who has developed a close connection with fellow Northern Beaches mum and Pink Hope founder, Krystal Barter, opened up her home for cancer survivors, magazine editors, journalists and celebrities in support of the charity that helps empower women and their families to take control of their hereditary breast and ovarian health.
“This campaign encourages us all to start a conversation; to share and to speak about our family health to help our children understand and shape their futures,” the first lady said.
“As a mother, I encourage my daughters to be proactive with their health,” Mrs Abbott added.
“Krystal knows her story can empower people who are potentially living with a death sentence.”
Krystal’s mum and late grandma and great-grandmother were all diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. Krystal, a mother-of-three and author of The Lucky One, also carries the gene.
She underwent a double mastectomy at the age of 25, to radically reduce the chances that she, too, would develop the disease and while recovering in her hospital bed, she founded the charity that has helped thousands of Australian women take control of their breast and ovarian health. Recently, Krystal had her ovaries removed to reduce her chance of getting ovarian cancer.
“I stand here today representing a charity on a mission – to ensure this generation’s high risk families are not the next generation’s cancer sufferers. Watching every woman in my family diagnosed with cancer because of the BRCA gene was life changing,” Krystal said at the launch today.
“Currently, more than 240,000 women and men are at risk of hereditary illness, or carry a genetic fault that can lead to breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers. The issue for many carriers of a hereditary gene is that they’re not aware of their family history, and often, many find out about their condition when it’s too late.”
Ashley and Jessica Hart for Bright Pink Lipstick Day.
Now in its third year, Bright Pink Lipstick Day has attracted the support of Australian supermodel Jessica Hart, who has created an exclusive lipstick through her newly launched brand LUMA by Jess Hart cosmetics.
Other celebrities including Jesinta Campbell, Lisa Wilkinson, Laura Csortan, Natalie Gruzlewski, Kyly Clarke and Nicole Trunfio are the faces of this year’s advertising campaign.
Krystal and her Pink Hope team are encouraging everyone to upload their bright pink pout on social media on Friday, September 26 and to make a promise to Kiss and Tell by talking about their family’s hereditary health.
