35-Year Breast Cancer Survivor Celebrates at Durham Race

When Laura Wickwar attended the first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in the Triangle back in 1996, fewer than 100 survivors posed for the annual photo. This Saturday, she'll join hundreds of women celebrating survivorship at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, marking a deeply personal milestone: 35 years cancer-free.

The Raleigh woman was just 31 and a new mom when chest pain sent her to the emergency room. After ruling out heart issues, doctors suggested her first mammogram.

"It was a big shock," Wickwar told WRAL. "I had never had a mammogram before and never really thought about breast cancer before."

That unexpected test revealed breast cancer. Wickwar later discovered both her mother and grandmother had also battled the disease, a family history she hadn't known about.

Now 67, Wickwar served on the planning committee for that first Triangle race three decades ago. She's watched the event grow alongside medical advances that transformed breast cancer from a terrifying diagnosis into a highly survivable disease.

"I can pick myself out of the first survivor photo, but 10 to 15 years later I can't because there's hundreds of women," she said.

Why This Inspires

Wickwar's optimism never wavered, even through treatment. She describes herself as a "think happy" person who counts her blessings, and cancer tested that core belief without changing it.

Today she uses her story to encourage other women to seek help for even minor symptoms. Her message is simple: early detection saves lives.

The numbers back her up. When caught at stage 1, breast cancer now has a 98 to 100 percent five-year survival rate, according to Susan G. Komen. Those odds represent decades of research funded partly by events like Saturday's race.

"If you go through whatever you need to go through, whether it's a lumpectomy, mastectomy, chemo or radiation, you have a super good chance of living," Wickwar said. "I think that's why you see so many women being survivors now."

The 30th annual Triangle race kicks off at 8:15 a.m. Saturday with the Survivors' Parade of Hope, followed by one-mile and 5K routes starting at 9 a.m. Wickwar will be there, one face among hundreds in this year's survivor photo, living proof that progress happens one breakthrough at a time.