Senior Dima Mutawe was only in third grade when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time, she didn’t understand how dangerous cancer was. But after about seven months, her mother passed away. When Mutawe went to the annual Pink’d game, on Friday, Oct. 28, she was there for more than just football.

The annual Pink’d game serves to raise money to fund breast cancer research and support families who have been affected.

“I’ve been to the Pink’d game multiple times,” said Mutawe. “It really helps to raise awareness and make people with breast cancer feel like they aren’t alone and that people understand what they are going through.”

The varsity football team swept past Edgewater, 51-0. It was a big night for students, since it was senior night as well.

Pink’d started about eight years ago by students who had family members affected by breast cancer. Since it started, it has been a way to support of patients, survivors and their families in the community. Leadership students decorate the school pink, spread facts about the cancer, and sell shirts for the event, the money from shirt sales is also donated toward research.

Pink’d brings together people from different backgrounds for a common purpose. It lets the women and men fighting know that they are not alone and how strong they are.

Many students have family members who have been affected. Sophomore Alexa Edney’s mom, Kim, was diagnosed in March, and has been battling the disease since. She has faced five months of chemotherapy treatments and recently underwent surgery. She also lost her hair, she didn’t mind the sacrifice.

“It gave me a new outlook. You have to start paying attention and enjoying all of the little things,” Kim Edney said. “It’s a shocker, even though they’ve come so far in medicine, it’s still such a scary disease.”

Although she couldn’t attend this year due to being in the hospital, she went last year.

Senior Will Chambley’s mother was diagnosed in his sophomore year, but has since returned to good health. He attended the game his freshman, sophomore and junior year.

“It definitely makes me see the true strength, willingness and determination of these women, or a man in some cases,” Chambley said. “They’re able to endure it, go through that and still stay strong.”

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in young women, with about 246,000 women being diagnosed a year and more than 40,000 fatalities. However, there are steps people can take to prevent it. Maintaining a healthy diet, avoiding smoking and alcohol and doing a sufficient amount of physical activity can help reduce the risk.

According to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime,as will one in 1000 men.

Depending on what stage the cancer is found in, five-year survival rates vary. Survival is almost 100 percent for stage one, but drops to 22 percent for breast cancer found in stage four.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation encourages women of all ages to perform self-checks once a month and report any abnormalities to a doctor. For more information, visit nationalbreastcancer.org.

“The purpose is to raise awareness for breast cancer and raise money for the Breast Cancer Foundation,” junior Paxton Cain said. Cain is on the planning committee for Pink’d events, along with a few others from leadership.

The Pink’d game took place at the end of ‘Pinktober’, ending national breast cancer awareness month. All proceeds of the events are donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Leadership students are still calculating how much they raised.