Pat Via’s vendetta against breast cancer became personal long before her 2009 diagnosis.
A daughter, niece and sister to women who struggled and in some cases died from breast cancer, Via feared that she too would have to contend with the illness that affects more than 300,000 women (and men) annually. That fear became reality, coincidently, in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“I thought it was a death sentence,” Via said, recalling the day her doctor had to deliver bad news.
Sixteen years later, Via is cancer free and working alongside her daughter, Telesa Via, to spread a message she learned after years of advocacy work. It’s a message she said she needed when she was first diagnosed.
“Breast cancer is beatable.”
That is a sort of mantra behind the MLC Cancer Foundation, a Martinsville-based nonprofit geared toward mitigating breast cancer through awareness.
“We teach exercising, nutrition, proper resting and the importance of walking,” Via said. “We teach people that movement is medicine … there is a lot that we need to do to keep our bodies well and energized.”
The organization is named after Via’s mother, Myrtle Lee Carter, who lost her life to breast cancer. Via said her mother kept her diagnosis under wraps, opting to shoulder the full burden. The MLC Cancer Foundation does the opposite by fostering a community.
“I wanted to give back to the community, here in Martinsville and Henry County,” Via said, adding that communities like Martinsville need this kind of support.
In Virginia, there are 129 cases of breast cancer for every 1,000 people, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Via said sometimes a cancer diagnosis can come even when practicing the proper diligence.
“I never skipped a beat,” Via said, adding that she had just been tested immediately prior to discovering a lump in her breast. A second test didn’t turn anything up even though she and doctors could feel there was something there.
After additional tests and a second opinion, doctors concluded that she did in fact have breast cancer.
“It is so important to do it,” Via said about self-examinations. “I didn’t do it on a monthly basis, it was just something I felt the one time. But it is very important to do it … when you have the mobility to check it out. The doctors don’t find everything.”
During the treatment phase, Via spoke with her daughter and together they decided they wanted to channel this experience into something positive. The MLC Cancer Foundation was born.
“When you go through the disease, cancer, you see people who are less fortunate,” Via said. “I was able to go and continue doing my activities. There are people that can’t, and my heart just bleeds for those people.”
In the ensuing years, Via and her foundation have been recognized for their work in and outside of the region. In 2023, she spoke at Duke University School of Medicine and most recently, Martinsville councilors honored her in a proclamation recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Via isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. She said the importance of the work she does is as important as it has ever been.
“Education was my main major tool throughout my process,” Via said. “Reading and finding out how things affected me and how to work around it. That’s why I do my symposium and my events. I want to educate the people. This is what we need to do. Know your family history. It helped me — it could help plenty of others.”
