Breast Cancer in the Black and Brown Community
Giselle & AvaMarie Watkins’s Story
Gisele and Ava Marie Watkins are taking the Runway for Recovery stage in honor of their mother, Shadon Watkins.
When Shadon became part of the Runway for Recovery family, she was living with metastatic breast cancer. Through every treatment, hospitalization, and setback, her focus remained on her daughters and making sure they could still experience joy, confidence, and the simple parts of childhood.
“They are what keep me going,” Shadon shared.
In 2024, Gisele and Ava Marie danced beside their mother on the Runway stage. Last year, they returned to honor her memory. This year, they continue that tradition — celebrating the woman who showed them what courage, resilience, and unconditional love look like.
Read MoreLaWanda Woumnm’s Story
When LaWanda began training as a 911 dispatcher with the Natick Police Department, she was excited to launch the next chapter of her life.
Six days later, her doctor called with the news: she had Stage 2 HER2+ breast cancer.
What followed was aggressive treatment, deep exhaustion, depression, financial stress, and a lesson LaWanda now carries with her: when you need help, ask for it.
Read MoreAsha Miller’s Story
For Asha, learning to show her body as it is has become part of her survivorship.
After completing breast cancer treatment, Asha was diagnosed with vitiligo, bringing yet another layer of physical change to a body that had already been through so much.
At this year’s New York Runway Show, she made the intentional decision not to cover it.
In doing so, Asha is teaching us what it means to show up exactly as we are.
Read MoreCrystal Davis’s Story
Crystal Davis has spent her life caring for others.
This year, Crystal returns to Runway as a survivor, advocate, board member, and recipient of the 2026 Ilene Beal Legacy of Leadership Award — continuing to dance, lead, and light up the stage for a community she believes in.
Now 18 years cancer free, Crystal’s story is one of survival, service, and celebration — a reminder that leadership can come from lived experience, and that support can change everything.
Read MoreOlivia Terrell’s Story
Olivia Terrell calls herself a breast cancer warrior, not just a survivor.
“You have to go in and fight,” she says. “I think half of the battle is your mindset sometimes. If you go in defeated, then you’re not going to make it.”
This year, Olivia walks for herself, in memory of her sister, who passed away after her own breast cancer diagnosis, and for every woman who needs to know her family history, schedule the appointment, ask the question, and keep fighting.
Read MoreAkhiel Willis and Kacey Morin’s Story
Akhiel and Kacey are walking in memory of Cheryl, Akhiel’s mother.
Cheryl’s breast cancer diagnosis came after months of pain that did not feel normal. She had trouble walking, climbing stairs, and moving through daily life, yet Akhiel remembers feeling like answers came too slowly and the plan never felt clear enough.
“It felt like they weren’t taking her seriously, or as seriously,” Kacey says.
Cheryl’s story is a celebration of a fiery woman with fierce style, deep love for family, and unwavering faith in her son. But it is also a reminder of the unequal treatment too many patients face, especially Black women whose symptoms are too often dismissed or not taken seriously enough.
This October, Akhiel and Kacey walk to honor Cheryl’s life and to raise awareness about listening sooner, asking harder questions, and making sure every patient receives the care and urgency they deserve.
Read MoreCrystal Davis Named Recipient of the 2026 Ilene Beal Legacy of Leadership Award
Runway for Recovery is proud to announce Crystal Davis as the recipient of the 2026 Ilene Beal Legacy of Leadership Award.
Read MoreWhy Our Models Choose to Dance the Runway
Experience the power of Runway for Recovery through the voices of our Models—individuals who are breast cancer previvors, survivors, currently in treatment, and those living with metastatic breast cancer, alongside the legacies of loved ones we honor and remember.
Read MoreLisa’s Story
Lisa’s breast cancer journey is grounded in something simple, but powerful: resilience.
Diagnosed on October 5, 2025, her experience with cancer has shaped the way she sees herself and the world around her—but it has also strengthened her in ways she carries forward every day.
“It made me resilient,” she shared, “and empowered me to help others on their journey.”
Read MoreSadiqa’s Story
Breast cancer was something Sadiqa thought she understood—first as a child watching her aunt go through it, and later as a physician caring for others. But at 34, just beginning her career and newly married, it became her own reality.
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