Thousands of people took to the streets of Seattle early Sunday morning in the name of ovarian cancer research.
They took part in the 26th annual SummeRun to benefit the Rivkin Center, a nonprofit that funds ovarian cancer research, educational programs and early detection screening. KIRO 7’s morning anchor Michelle Millman, a cancer survivor herself, emceed the event.
Some 22,000 women are diagnosed with this disease each year in the U.S. Right now there's no early detection procedure, so mortality rates for patients are higher than other types of cancer.
Scroll down to continue reading
More news from KIRO 7
- Two people died after being found with gunshot wounds to their heads on Mercer Island
- Hidden camera captures employee raping nursing home resident, prosecutors say
- Man shot at Northwest Detention Center after throwing 'incendiary devices' at cars, buildings
- Man is beaten to death by parents, bystanders after stealing car with children inside, police said
- Do you have an investigative story tip? Send us an email at investigate@kiro7.com
“Our research and the work we are doing, we are trying to change those statistics and improve the results,” said Joe White, executive director for the Rivkin Center. “In the first year (of this event) we had five survivors here; this year we will have 85 survivors that we know of.”
Among the survivors who are taking part in the event is Elizabeth Crouch. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer four years ago. She said she was healthy and has no family history and she is grateful she caught the disease early.
“Until we have a great detection system, you are your own best detector,” said Crouch. “Don’t be embarrassed to think it’s nothing. That’s the worst you can do. If something is different for you, go get it checked.”
Since this event started, it has raised more than $20 million for ovarian cancer research in Washington and around the world.
This year, they are expected to reach their goal of raising more than $500,000.
Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/IPIXRAQD4KXZGRHJ52HJAS7CAE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/R6RG2PCB2ZHJ3L3E6UDSUL2Z5U.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/KQLUNZWDCVAXNJE4P6HNOO26GQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/5HKQRAHDV5C3BNCXS4LL4BIRHQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/3CHB7UPQ6ZFLVLBM3BSMZQEZ4I.png)