Local ‘Breast Cancer Warrior’ shares story, hopes to spread awareness

SMITHS GROVE, Ky. – For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, News 40 talked to a Smiths Grove woman who wants to be known as the Breast Cancer Warrior.

After getting a clean bill of health following several annual mammograms, Tyra Pearson delayed her next one. That next Mammogram with TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital detected cancer.

Pearson says, “I was really shocked. I took it well, and as soon as I left from the doctor’s office, my dad passed away. It’s been about four years ago from cancer as well, so I went and I laid on my dad’s grave, and I just talked to him.”

Pearson had surgery to remove the tumor, then had 20 rounds of radiation, and today, she is cancer free.

Now she advises all women to get tested without delay.

Pearson says, “When I get to tell them my journey and my story, like we’ll get to talking. And my first thing I would say is, ‘have you got your ta-tas checked?’ And some people tell me, ‘yes,’ some people are telling me ‘no.’ And I’m like, ‘don’t think that it can’t happen to you.’ If I can just help one person, I feel like I’ve done a lot.”

An important reminder is to schedule regular doctor visits and know what signs to look for when it comes to breast cancer.