[In honor of Women's History Month, we are kicking off a story series introducing you to the women that started VBCF.]
It all began while watching the Today Show from a hospital bed. It is 1991, Patti Goodall is a 38-year-old mother with 3 and 5-year-old children at home. She has been admitted to the hospital for complications from her first chemo session.
To pass the time, she is flipping through the TV channels and lands on the Today Show. Someone talking about breast cancer catches her attention. Elenore Pred, co-founder of Breast Cancer Action is on television.
Pred had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1981. She had a recurrence in 1988 and was angry that in all those years, there had not been any progress in how the disease was being treated. She was also angry at the increasing number of young women being diagnosed with and dying from breast cancer. She was planning a protest rally for Mother’s Day in San Francisco, CA. After Patti got home from the hospital, she called information, got Pred’s number, and gave her a call.
