Meet the Models, SoCal: Tamara Deiro

In 1975 when Tamara Deiro was just 10 years old, she lost her great aunt to breast cancer. It was an emotional blow, particularly because Tamara was adopted and had a close bond to her aunt, whom she felt embraced her fully as her own.

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Meet the Models, SoCal: Patty Nandy & Danielle Cronin

Patty Nandy was very familiar with breast cancer. Her grandmother, aunt and mother all had breast cancer, which meant she was familiar with the brutality of the disease. It’s why, when her mammogram caught signs of cancer, she was not overly surprised. She was 50 at the time and when it was determined that she would not be able to take tamoxifen, Patty opted for a bilateral double mastectomy.

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Meet the Models: Alissa Christie, Love Local, Newburyport

Hi Everyone-  welcome to Love, Local on this beautiful evening. And thank you for supporting Runway for  recovery and such an amazing cause. 

My name is Alissa Christie, I live here in Newburyport, with my husband and two daughters. I’m here to tell the story about my beautiful mother, who was my best friend – and her 18 year battle with breast cancer that ultimately took her life 6 years ago.

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Meet the Models, Nina Abelowitz,

I have to be totally honest, I never attend events like this.

No, it’s not because I don’t believe in them, or don’t have the time, it’s because I’ve dedicated my entire career to cancer care and I feel I’ve given a ton back to the community that way. And I have.

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Meet the Models, SoCal: Jean Mackie

Jean Mackie has often felt powerless in the face of breast cancer. She has witnessed the disease take root in many friends and five years ago she never would have imagined it would take the life of her friend Racheal (for whom Runway SoCal began). When speaking about Rachael, Jean lights up saying, “Rachael was just plain fun. The world was robbed. She was kicking it and then suddenly, her life was done.”

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Meet the Models, SoCal: Laura Gromis

For Laura Gromis, family has been at the center of her life for as long as she can remember. She grew up with her grandparents right down the street, so when her maternal grandmother, Dawn, was diagnosed with breast cancer at 55, it came as a shock. Receiving a single mastectomy and hormone therapy, the cancer went into remission, only to return later, requiring a second mastectomy and further treatment. It was at this time that Laura’s grandparents came to live with her family full time. The time spent together strengthened the family’s bond even further: “they were our only close family, so to us they were everything.”

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Meet the Models, SoCal: Brian Schultz

Brian Schultz was in his young twenties when his aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her passing at just 57 prompted his mother to get a mammogram, which led to an immediate diagnosis of breast cancer at 52. Brian himself had just graduated college and delayed his trip out west to begin his job to stay and support his mother through her single mastectomy and recovery. A successful surgery meant his mother was cancer free and “the next 15 years were pretty normal in the world of someone living with cancer- the will it come back? was certainly there- but she was otherwise healthy.”

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Meet the Models, SoCal: Ricky Hsin

Runway for Recovery’s growth to the west coast began out of Ricky Hsin’s desire to honor his sister, Rachael. In nearly all ways, Ricky and his sister grew up opposites and being the children of immigrant parents meant the two had to forge their path in America for themselves. Despite their differences, the two almost always found themselves converging on the same course, even attending the same high school and college. After Ricky married his wife, Melissa, and had their daughter, Lily, his sister remained an integral part of their lives- now expanding her role to being a super aunt.

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