A Habersham County paramedic and breast cancer survivor is giving the gift of hope to others, one t-shirt at a time.
Angie Turk wanted to do something special last year to raise public awareness of the disease. She recalled how, when she worked in Stephens County, the EMS crews and hospital workers there wore pink t-shirts in October for Breast Cancer Awareness month. Turk asked permission from her boss, Chad Black, to do that in Habersham County. The director of Habersham County Emergency Services gladly agreed.
Little did Turk know at the time that her simple request would become a potentially life-saving gesture.
After designing the shirts, Turk intended to print up enough for EMTs and medics to wear. But the pink t-shirts caught on. Soon, her co-worker’s family members – spouses and children – were asking for the pink tees. As demand grew, so did Turk’s goal; it went from an awareness campaign to a fundraiser.
She decided, “If we’re selling all these shirts, let’s raise the price and I’ll make some money and donate it for breast cancer.”
One month and seventy shirts later, Turk had raised $660 to promote early detection of breast cancer. It’s the sort of thing she wishes someone had done for her over a decade ago.
“At the time, my insurance didn’t pay for mammograms for women that young,” Turk says. When she finally did get a mammogram, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
She’s made it her mission to spread the word, “Early detection is key.”
A win-win
During an informal presentation on Feb. 5 at Habersham Medical Center in Demorest, Turk presented the proceeds from her impromptu fundraiser to hospital administrators. They, in turn, presented 15 coupons for mammograms to the non-profit health clinic Grace Gate.
The coupons will be used to pay for mammograms at HMC for women who otherwise could not afford them.
“Last year we had three or four women diagnosed with breast cancer and they had to go to Gainesville to have all the mammograms done,” says Grace Gate Clinic Administrator Ginny Allison. She says Turk’s contribution will, thankfully, help them avoid that.
“When you tell somebody ‘You need to go to Gainesville’ some of them panic. Some of them don’t have the money for gas to go down there, so, we just couldn’t be happier,” says Allison.
HMC’s radiology department offers 3D mammography. “Because of this new equipment we’re finding things and seeing things that we didn’t see before,” explains the hospital’s director of diagnostic imaging Dee Dillin. “It’s a win for the community. It’s a win for Grace Gate.”
A breast cancer survivor herself, Allison acknowledges this type of help offers peace of mind…and hope.
Turk is already making plans to grow the pink t-shirt fundraiser later this year. She wants to sell more shirts over a longer period of time to raise more money to offer hope to more women.
As she reflects on her own cancer journey and how it led her to this she says, “If I can save one person from going through that it is totally worth it.”
