Catholic Vancouver February 22, 2018
Gala raises $900,115 for Catholic breast cancer centre
By Agnieszka Ruck
New breast cancer detection technology is coming to Mount Saint Joseph Hospital thanks to an annual gala that raised $900,115 Feb. 3. (Photos courtesy St. Paul's Foundation)
VANCOUVER—Breakthrough technology for early breast cancer detection is coming to Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver.
The purchase of new mammography equipment for B.C. patients is becoming a reality thanks to $900,115 raised at a Chinese New Year fundraiser Feb. 3.
“Through personal experience, family or friends, colleagues or acquaintances, breast cancer is an issue close to us all,” said Sing Lim Yeo, founder of the Scotiabank Feast of Fortune Gala.
“The best way to help is to provide our doctors with the best tools and the best equipment available, and that is what we are aiming to do.”
The Breast Centre at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital treats about 20 per cent of breast cancer patients in B.C. and performed 15,000 breast imaging studies last year alone. Among its patients was celebrity pop singer Pancy Fung Ping Lau.
“I was very shocked and I didn’t know, maybe I was gone,” after she received a breast cancer diagnosis, said Lau at a press conference Dec. 6.
After a few tests, she found out she was at a very early stage of breast cancer, the tumour being only the size of a bean. “The doctor was very good for me. She sat down and told me: don’t worry.”
Lau, who lives in Vancouver but performs in Hong Kong, has become an outspoken supporter of early breast cancer detection since her treatment in 2013. “It’s very important for a woman.”
More than 650 special guests and supporters arrived at the Scotiabank Feast of Fortune to ring in the Chinese New Year and raise funds for the mammography equipment. In the last decade, the gala has raised more than $5 million for Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.
