Hundreds walk against breast cancer at Heritage Bank Blueprint Pink walkathon

Streets of Magodo in Lagos were turned into sea of pink as scores of people took part in this year’s Heritage Bank Blueprint Pink walkathon walk against breast cancer last Saturday morning.

People of different ages and background defied Independence Day early morning shower to converge on Karis School, Magodo Estate Phase 11, Lagos and got involved in the walk which was staged to raise awareness about breast cancer.

Femi Ogunsanwo, Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint 360, the organisers of the event, said this year’s edition was a huge improvement on the previous ones because of the support from a brand like Heritage Bank.

He said the enthusiasm expressed by participants showed that the awareness campaign against the dreaded disease which his company started seven years ago was yielding desired results.

“The campaign was to create awareness about breast cancer, the early detection is key and I can say the event is getting better every year, people came out to have fun, you can see that every aspect of the event improved because we have a big brand supporting it,” Ogunsanwo said.

“Government is playing their part but individuals also have a role to play by checking their health status regularly, we cannot leave everything to the government and that is why we are doing this, creating awareness about the disease.”

The event began at 7am; with people warming up to a light exercise and stretches conducted by Show shakes Dance Academy on the lawns of the Karis School, that was after they had registered and got their free pink T-shirts.

The traditional release of pink balloons marked the start of the walk as participants set off on the 5-kilometre route around the Estate.

Shortly after the walk, many of the participants expressed their excitement about the event.

Funke Osho, a mother of one, said; “I am so excited to be part of this walk, apart from being a good way to exercise the body, I am happy that I was part of this course to fight against breast cancer.”

“ I took part last year and I am happy to be here today, this is a novel course and we have to keep spreading the message, I had a lot of fun, doing this with people from different places and I am already looking forward to the next edition,” Ijeoma Ogwo, another participant enthused.

Walkers were treated to short refreshment after the walk and were ushered into the Karis School hall for a talk on breast cancer with some of them getting screened by doctors who were on ground.