LaToya Bolds-Johnson was working as a physician assistant when she learned she had breast cancer. “I was 35. I have three small daughters. I was in disbelief,” she said. “How could I be sick?”

Richard Williams was in his late 40s when he discovered a lump near his arm pit. He soon learned he had stage 3 breast cancer.

Rebecca Hoon was 35 when she found out she had breast cancer. “I don’t think anyone forgets the first time they hear the word ‘cancer,'” she said. “I asked her how long I had.”

Joni Rogers-Kante was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. “Cancer doesn’t define me,” she said. “It is now a part of my story.”

In early 2021, six months after her mammogram came back clear, Mary Randall was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma, a type of breast cancer that begins in the milk-producing glands of the breast. Before she could begin treatment, she learned her cancer had metastasized (spread) to her abdominal lining. She’s found a way to gain control over her diagnosis through fundraising for Komen on Facebook.

Stacy Scovanner knew as soon as she felt a lump near her armpit that she had breast cancer. Two weeks later, follow-up tests confirmed her suspicions were correct. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called low-grade fibromatosis-like spindle cell carcinoma in June 2020 at 42 years old.

Katy Garvey was in her senior year of college at the University of Virginia when she got the news that would shock her to her core. Her mom, a beloved educator and elementary school principal, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 52.