One woman's aim in life: "Making breast cancer history for my daughter; all daughters.”

Lisa Sewards’ aim in life?

“… is to contribute to making breast cancer history for my daughter; all daughters.”

One in nine Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer before they reach the age of 85. And Lisa Sewards was one of them. Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was in her late thirties.

She had two young children – Harrison and Isabella – at the time, and one of the things she struggled with was how to tell them what was happening to their mum.

So she wrote a book to read to them. My Mum has Breast Cancer – a family’s cancer journey is a children’s book that’s used to support children and help them to understand the diagnosis and what life’s like when someone is battling cancer.

Since that point, Lisa’s continued to do what said she would – she’s doing everything she possibly can to make breast cancer history for future generations.

Lisa volunteers and raises awareness for the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) and she’s the Community Liaison Officer for Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) and Cabrini Health.

And earlier this year, ME Bank, the major sponsor of the annual Mother’s Day Classic, asked Lisa to design the 2013 Mother’s Day Classic bandana.

She chose to design a print that was a dedication to her friend Rachel West, who also fought her own battle with breast cancer. Lisa and Rachael were introduced by a staff member at the BCNA and together they created a number of annual fundraisers for the BCNA and the NBCF.

Unfortunately Rachel’s cancer returned and spread to her lungs, liver and brain. In December last year, after a three-year fight, she lost her battle.

This is the design Lisa came up with:

The unicorns represent purity, hope, love, strength, endurance, agility, and grace. And those were all qualities of Rachael, according to Lisa.

“The symbolic meanings behind the design supports the message that ‘together we can do more through hope and love’ and ‘those affected show strength, endurance and agility’… and we all need some magic in our life,” Lisa says.

2013 marks the ninth consecutive year of support for the Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic from proud major sponsor, ME Bank.

Purchase an ME Bank 2013 special edition Mother’s Day Classic bandana for $2. All proceeds are donated to the total amount raised by the event. The bandana is will be available for purchase on the day at the Mother’s Day Classic event.

In addition to ME Bank’s ongoing support of the Mother’s Day Classic and the National Breast Cancer Foundation, in 2011, ME Bank launched the special Pink Debit MasterCard. For every purchase made using the Pink Card, ME Bank donates 1 cent to the NBCF. Open an EveryDay Transaction Account with Pink Debit MasterCard® between 1 February – 31 May 2013 and you’ll have the chance to win a luxury Whitsundays escape valued up to $8,000!

The Mother’s Day Classic is Australia’s largest charity fundraising event, held annually on Mother’s Day in 11 metropolitan and 63 regional locations.  Each location hosts a walk or run varying between 3-12km. All proceeds from the event are donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF), with almost $15 million raised over the past 16 years. Click here to register for the event.

This post is sponsored by ME Bank. Comments on this post are just for this post. If you want to talk about the IDEA of sponsored posts or the choice of advertisers please click here. We will be reading all those comments too for feedback.

We’re asking Mamamia readers to share their stories of resilience and survival in the comments below. Have you ever been involved in a charity? Have you ever been moved to take action for a friend?