Jones Beach walk against breast cancer raises awareness and money

Shakoya Bala was 29 years old and 12 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I thought it was over for me and my baby," said Bala, 33, of Baldwin.

Surrounded by friends in matching light pink wigs, Bala was among a crowd estimated by organizers to be more than 81,000 at Jones Beach on Sunday for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. The New York State Police, which patrolled the event, were not immediately available Sunday to confirm the number of people in attendance.

 The walk on Long Island, now in its 32nd year, has brought out tens of thousands annually during October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The walk, like others nationwide, aims to bring attention to the disease and raise money for research and patient care.

Bala, who described her treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in 2021 as "a long journey," went through chemotherapy before giving birth, then received multiple surgeries and radiation.

"Even my oncologist had to get help because he’d never had a patient who was pregnant," Bala said. "I cried a lot, and then I figured I have to get through this because I have my kids to live for."

American women have a 1 in 8 chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. The death rate has declined nearly 45% since the late 1990s, thanks to early screening and better treatments, according to the society.

Still, Black women have the highest death rate for the disease, more than any other racial or ethnic group, in part because they’re at higher risk of contracting triple-negative breast cancer. Bala, who is Black, had been diagnosed with that form of breast cancer, which is rare and aggressive.

"Everybody knows somebody who’s been touched by breast cancer," said Natale Raimo, executive director of the American Cancer Society’s Long Island region.

Raimo said of Sunday's walk at Jones Beach: "It’s the one day where the community and their families can come together and either honor their loved one or honor somebody that we’ve lost."

Organizers on Sunday said the walk beat last year’s fundraising total of $2.4 million, with the money going to breast cancer research as well as a pair of American Cancer Society programs, Road to Recovery, which provides free transportation for patients to medical appointments, and Hope Lodge, free room and board for patients undergoing long-term treatment.

Lynda Ponticelli, 60, posed for photos with a crew of her family and friends, all sporting T-shirts with the team name "Lynda’s Rack Pack."

Ponticelli, who was 10 when her mother died of breast cancer, said she spent years fundraising for treatment research. Years later, Ponticelli and her husband listed their Amityville home for sale to move to South Carolina. The day their home went under contract, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ponticelli traveled from South Carolina to New York for two surgeries, one in 2021 and another last year, she said.

"It sounds silly, but when you get out of the shower and look at yourself in the mirror, and you’re sliced and diced, you know, it takes a toll — mentally and emotionally," Ponticelli said. "You don’t feel whole."

Ponticelli said she’s grateful for how much breast cancer research has progressed over the years.

"My mom didn’t have a shot," she said. "I’m so blessed to be here."

Along the boardwalk at Jones Beach and among a sea of pink, Keira Diab, of Amityville, stood with a group of friends.

"I’m still going through treatment, am I a survivor?" Diab, 37, asked the group. "Yeah!" came an enthusiastic reply.

In February, Diab was lying in bed when she decided to do a breast self-exam, she told Newsday. After feeling a lump, Diab called her doctor and scheduled a mammogram. In March, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I went in to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction in May, and started chemo in July," she said, expecting to complete chemotherapy in December. "I finished four out of my eight treatments, so I’m halfway there."

As a geriatric care nurse, Diab said her breast cancer diagnosis, and watching patients she treats struggle every day, led her to contemplate her own mortality.

She was hesitant to pursue chemotherapy, Diab said, but her loved ones helped her realize "it’s not a death sentence."

"Maybe I’ll get an early Christmas present," she said. "My children are my light at the end of the tunnel."