Support Connection is proud to introduce the Walk Ambassadors for our 30th Annual Support-A-Walk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Andrea Della Mura and Donna Nava.
Walk Ambassadors are supporters who share their personal stories to illustrate the spirit and purpose of this uplifting annual event.
Introducing Walk Ambassador Andrea Della Mura
Andrea’s Story
Only a couple of months ago, Andrea Della Mura opened the doors to her own wellness business. At 55 years old, she has sought out the opportunity to become a DRIPBaR franchise owner and has put all of her effort into creating a space in Rye, NY where anyone can go to receive support (through IV Vitamin Therapy) on their wellness journey. Some 55-year-olds are pondering retirement rather than seeking to open their own business, but Andrea is just getting started. This two-time cancer survivor, wellness pioneer, and mother of two has never backed away from a challenge. When life throws Andrea a lemon, she’ll take that lemon, make lemonade, and then start a lemonade business.
When Andrea reflects back on her relationship with Support Connection, she puts herself back in the mindset of 25-year-old Andrea. It’s the early 90s. Like any 20-something year old woman, Andrea’s focus was on building a career and a life for herself. Then one day a solid mass was found in her left breast. Suddenly, the focus shifted to surviving. Experiencing cancer at any age can be a lonely experience. Andrea recounts that back in the day cancer was taboo to speak about at any age, but being diagnosed at such a young age added an extra layer of loneliness. Andrea had no one else to speak to about being a young woman dealing with breast cancer.
At the same time, Nancy Heller and Rich Adamski were on a mission to raise awareness about breast and ovarian cancer in Northern Westchester. Nancy and Rich had crossed paths on a bus down to New York City on their way to participate in a breast cancer awareness walk. They bonded over Nancy being a 12 year breast cancer survivor and Rich having lost his beloved wife Myra to the same disease. The pair decided that they needed to organize their own Walk in Northern Westchester to raise awareness of this disease in their community.
It was Nancy who invited Andrea to be a speaker at the first Walk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer. Nancy decided that Andrea would be the perfect person to represent her generation – a generation of young women dealing with breast cancer. “I had no one else to talk to at the time. I didn’t know any other young woman who had cancer,” Andrea recounts, “I formed a great bond with Nancy Heller; she was someone to look up to who had survived cancer.”
On October 1, 1995, Andrea stepped up to the mic to speak at the very first Walk. She stood up on the stage, looked out at the hundreds of faces in the crowd…and felt petrified. Throughout the process of planning the Walk, Nancy had been telling everyone, “If we build it, they will come.” Nancy was proven right. All eyes were on Andrea, and she got the sense that they were all wondering what some young girl was doing up on the stage taking control of the microphone. Rather than hopping off the stage and running in the opposite direction, Andrea began to tell the crowd about her experience as a young woman living with breast cancer. Andrea represented something that people weren’t aware of. She was not what the general public thought of when they pictured someone with breast cancer. “I thought to myself, people are going to realize that cancer doesn’t discriminate,” Andrea recalls, “This is going to open people’s eyes, and they are going to go home and talk about it.”
When the ribbon was cut and the walk began, Andrea walked along a sea of 800 people. Some walked alone, others in groups. People wore custom t-shirts and carried banners, all to show support and raise awareness for those living with breast and ovarian cancer. “I was in awe,” Andrea recounts, “I remember people were stopping me and telling me that my words resonated with them. They saw me as their daughter, their granddaughter, their niece, their neighbor.” The first Walk was a beautiful day filled with comradery, celebration, and remembrance. It was very well received within the community, so much so that Nancy and Rich decided that they would do it again next October.
It was not long after the first Walk that planning began for the second. It quickly became apparent that the community needed more than an annual awareness walk. At the time, cancer support organizations in the Hudson Valley were next to none. It was time to build an organization to support women living with cancer in their own community. Andrea, alongside soon to be Support Connection Executive Director Katherine Quinn, and many others joined together to form Support Connection.
Andrea recalls the summer day when Support Connection received its name. “I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast this morning,” she jokes, “But I remember sitting next to Kathy Quinn and I remember what Nancy’s office smelled like.” Something about that moment felt important to Andrea. Everyone in that room voting on a name had a story. Every person’s life had been touched by breast or ovarian cancer in some way. The name Support Connection quickly rose to the top of the list. It summed up the essence of what this new organization was looking to provide: emotional, educational, and social support services for women, their families, and friends affected by breast or ovarian cancer.
Support Connection opened its doors on September 10, 1996. That same day, the phones began ringing. Andrea trained to be one of Support Connection’s first volunteer support group facilitators for newly diagnosed individuals. Her role as support group facilitator was to create a safe and welcoming environment for support group participants to share information, experiences, and support. In her time as a support group facilitator, Andrea touched many lives and gave many people experiencing cancer comfort and hope. The training that Andrea received as a support group facilitator has never left her. She continues to live her life in service to others and now she’s putting all of her experience and compassionate energy into fostering a warm, empathetic environment at her DRIPBaR Rye.
at 10th Annual Walk
As years passed, Support Connection continued to grow to meet the needs of the community. Support Connection began offering One-on-One Peer Counseling, wellness programs, educational opportunities, and social opportunities. As Support Connection grew, Andrea did a lot of growing as well. Following her diagnosis and speech at the first Support-A-Walk in 1995, Andrea went on to build a career, get married, and have two sons. 14 years passed before Andrea found herself face to face with cancer once again. A routine mammogram revealed an unusual image which a biopsy revealed to be a calcification. Next to the calcification, doctors once again found breast cancer. Now at 39 years old, Andrea geared up for her second fight against breast cancer. During her first battle with cancer at 25, Andrea had lacked a community that she could lean on for emotional support and resources. This time, Andrea knew that she could pick up the phone and call Support Connection. Support Connection’s counselors were able to provide Andrea with emotional support, resources, and community. “I know what it is like to have a sense of community and someone to turn to when you are diagnosed with something so devastating and so frightening. It’s important to speak with someone who has been down that road,” Andrea shares, “When they say that they know how you feel, they truly do.” With support from her family, friends, medical team, and Support Connection, Andrea ended up beating cancer for a second time.
On Sunday, October 6, 2024, Andrea Della Mura will take the Support-A-Walk stage once again as a Walk Ambassador to help Support Connection celebrate our 30th Annual Support-A-Walk. Like an old friend, Andrea has always joined Support Connection for our most important milestones and has been a champion of spreading our mission and letting people know that we are here to help. “I am very proud to be a Support-A-Walk Ambassador. Being a two-time cancer survivor is not lost on me because some people don’t get the opportunity to survive once,” says Andrea, “That’s why I am doing something with the chances that I have. I am doing what I can to make people’s lives better. I get to now step on stage 30 years out and I get to show people that there is hope.”
Support Connection invites you to join the remarkable Andrea Della Mura on Sunday, October 6, 2024, at our 30th Annual Support-A-Walk for Breast and Ovarian Cancer. To learn more about our Walk or to make a donation visit www.supportconnection.org/support-a-walk.