Emma Sye 30 wearing pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month with fellow Langley Twigg Law staff in Napier. Reporter Louise Gould/Video Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay lawyer Emma Sye might've kept walking through life thinking she was "invincible" were it not for her proactive GP.
Sye's jaw dropped to the floor in November when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29.
"Everyone thinks at 29 you're invincible and there's no way that cancer's going to affect you – it was a huge shock for me finding out that I had it," she said.
This week she turned 30 and on Thursday morning Langley Twigg hosted a Breast Cancer Foundation Pink Ribbon Breakfast in Ahuriri to raise money and also celebrate her birthday.
Emma Sye, 30, at Langley Twigg's Breast Cancer Foundation Pink Ribbon Breakfast. Photo / Warren Buckland
Sye, one of the firm's up-and-coming solicitors, wants to make sure young people understand that Breast Cancer Awareness month isn't just for their parents.
"It's really important for people to not be complacent, if you find a lump or have a pain or anything you're concerned about, it's vital you go and see your GP," she said.
Every day nine New Zealand women will be told the news they have breast cancer.
The 30-year-old has been through three and a half months of chemotherapy before having surgery, and is due to travel to Palmerston North for four weeks of radiation treatment soon.
"The treatment is tough mentally, emotionally and physically - and I'm not quite done yet," Sye said.
Langley Twigg law firm staff all in pink at their Pink Ribbon Breakfast. Photo / Warren Buckland
But she says it could have been worse.
"If my GP hadn't been proactive and sent me on for an ultrasound and biopsy and to see a specialist within two weeks, I think the outcome could've been quite different," she said.
Receptionist Deirdre Hambleton organised the Pink Ribbon Breakfast for Sye. She said everyone at the firm is fond of her.
"She's kind of the glue here and we were completely blown away by her news - it was dreadful," Hambleton said.
Langley Twigg's breakfast donation page has already surpassed $1000 for the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Hambleton said it's a worthy cause that they've all been touched by.
"My sister, our boss' wife, everyone's got someone in their family who has had a touch of it and had to have treatment and surgery," she added.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Kiwi women, affecting one in nine women over their lifetime.
Sye said everyone who's eligible for screening programmes should ring and book themselves in for an appointment, and have a mammogram done.
"Ring now, but don't stop there; take your friends, remind your sisters, your mum, your aunties, your wife, your girlfriends. Make sure they all go for a checkup.
"Don't put it off, don't wait and see, do it now - it could save your life."
