Victoria Price’s Story

How did you find your breast cancer?

Victoria Price was 29 years old, living in Chicago, and preparing to move back to New York City when she felt something unusual in her breast.

She had no family history of breast cancer and did not expect to be at risk so young. But Victoria was an actor and dancer, and she knew her body.

“My body is telling me that something’s not right,” she remembers thinking.

After first being told the area might not be concerning, Victoria kept moving forward with imaging. What followed was a long series of appointments, scans, biopsies, and waiting.

By the end of February, Victoria received her diagnosis: DCIS.

“I didn’t think that I would ever be at risk for breast cancer,” she says.

The lump she had originally felt was not actually the cancer, but it was the reason she got checked. It brought her to the appointment that led to her diagnosis.

“I’m grateful that I listened to my body and that I know my body,” Victoria says. “Whatever that was was not normal.”

What did genetic testing reveal?

Because Victoria was so young, her care team recommended genetic testing.

The results showed that she carries the BRCA2 mutation.

Before her diagnosis, Victoria had not really heard of BRCA2. Suddenly, she was learning about genetics, screening, family risk, and what this information could mean for the people she loves.

Her mother and sisters were tested and were negative for the mutation. Because Victoria’s father had passed away years earlier, her family believes he may have carried the mutation.

The discovery opened up new conversations across her family and helped more people become aware of their own risk.

“Now more people in the family are aware,” Victoria says.

 

What would you tell someone newly diagnosed?

Victoria’s advice is simple and compassionate.

“Anything that you’re feeling is valid,” she says.

She knows that every person responds differently to a diagnosis. Some people cry. Some feel numb. Some keep moving until it all hits them later.

For Victoria, joy also became important. In the middle of fear, body changes, and uncertainty, she tried to hold onto small moments that made her feel like herself.

“Finding moments to hold on to joy… was really helpful to me,” she says.

After hard appointments or procedures, Victoria gave herself permission to do something comforting.

“I did a hard thing today, and my body did a hard thing today,” she says.

How do you think about your body now?

Victoria understands how complicated it can feel to live in a body after a cancer diagnosis.

“It’s okay to feel like your body has betrayed you,” she says. “It’s okay to feel like you don’t know the body that you’ve lived in your entire life.”

At the same time, Victoria also knows that her body was communicating with her. Something felt off, and she listened.

That has become one of the most important parts of her story: your feelings are valid, your fear is valid, and your body’s signals are worth listening to.

 

Why does representation matter in your story?

When Victoria walked into the cancer center, she was young, Black, and alone.

Most of the people around her were older and white. She did not see anyone who looked like her, and that isolation stayed with her.

That experience now shapes the way Victoria shares her story.

She wants other people, especially young Black women, to see themselves reflected in breast cancer conversations. She speaks honestly about fear, diagnosis, body changes, joy, grief, and everything in between.

For Victoria, representation is part of helping people feel less alone.

“That’s how they feel seen,” she says.

What are we celebrating this year?

This year, we are celebrating Victoria’s voice.

We are celebrating the way she trusted her body when something felt wrong. We are celebrating the awareness her diagnosis brought to her family. And we are celebrating the representation she offers to young Black women navigating breast cancer.

On the Runway stage, we look forward to celebrating Victoria as she brings honesty, courage, beauty, and hope to a community where every story deserves to be seen.