Throughout the past two weeks the talk of the town has been either of Chuck Amato, his status as the Wolfpack coach or his consequential firing on Sunday. With Chuck Amato garnering all the headlines, lead news stories and talk radio conversations there has been another N.C. State coach who is facing something much more serious than that of Chuck Amato or who our football coach will be. I am willing to bet that most of you do not know who or what I am talking about.
A week ago on Nov. 23, N.C. State’s women’s basketball Kay Yow announced that she would be taking a leave of absence from her team to battle a reemergence of breast cancer. Coach Yow, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and 1988 Olympic gold medal coach, is in the midst of her third battle with breast cancer.
Originally diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987, coach Yow has been struggling to rid the disease from her body permanently. Two years ago, coach Yow was forced to leave her place on the bench so she could dedicate all her energy to fighting breast cancer for the second time.
According to a CNN review on breast cancer, approximately 200,000 women and 1,500 men contract the disease each year. The American Cancer Society reports that in 2006, about 212,920 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer. Of those 212,920 women, 40,970 women will die from the disease this year. Presently, there are slightly more than 2 million women living in the United States who have been treated for breast cancer.
Today, the chance of a woman developing an invasive breast cancer at some point during her life is about 1-in-8. Currently, the odds of dying from breast cancer are about 1-in-33. Thankfully, the death rate of breast cancer is significantly declining from a few years ago. This decline is probably the result of finding the cancer earlier and improved treatment.
Many women, like coach Yow, are alive and living normal lives today because their breast cancer was detected and treated early.
In a statement released by coach Yow she said, “As a public figure, attention will likely be focused on me with this change in the status of my breast cancer. I would prefer if equal attention were centered on my team and on the many other women and men in North Carolina and across the country who face the same struggle with their cancers that I do.”
The fact of the matter is that we should do more, myself included, to support our beloved coach, Kay Yow. The N.C. State family and community must and should do more to continue to support her, her cause and her team.
Supporting Kay Yow and supporting her cause of breast cancer is one in the same. Coach Yow has always been a big proponent of cancer research and awareness. Contributing your time, money and your efforts to this important cause will both be there for coach Yow during this difficult time, but fighting the disease as well.
Like coach Yow wants, we need to support her team. If you have ever been to a women’s basketball game you have noticed that the attendance for these games is not where it should be. Games are not off campus, but rather on campus in the historic Reynolds Coliseum. I encourage you to make it out to some of the Lady Wolfpack’s games to show support for coach Yow and her wonderful players.
N.C. State already lost one great coach, Jimmy Valvano, to cancer and I, like countless others, am praying for coach Yow to return to the helm soon. When she returns hopefully it will be that last time that she has to experience the fight against cancer.
This week’s headlines and stories about Chuck Amato are warranted; however, we need to step back and look at the bigger picture of life. When we do that, we see the more important story that should be talked about more is what is happing to Kay Yow and the other 2 million women here in America and the immeasurable women worldwide.
E-mail Matt at [email protected].
