Almost 200 Saleites dressed in their best for local not-for-profit charity Defining Beauty Through Breast Cancer’s Black or Bling charity night at Portside Food + Wine on Saturday, September 3, to raise money for their new Boozom Buddies program.
There was glitter, and there were sparkles and balloons all around. There was a DJ, and there was a dance floor, cocktails and more; it was Portside like you’d never seen before.
After formalities, guests gathered around, cocktails in hand, as two-time breast cancer survivor Jo Francis took to the stand.
The Sale local was diagnosed with breast cancer at 26, one of the youngest diagnoses her doctors had seen at the time.
After surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Jo won the battle with her boobs; remission.
Seventeen years later, the malevolent cancer was back and at 42-years-old, Jo stepped back on the battlefield, forced to fight once more, this time with her husband Doug and two little girls, Ella and Charlotte, by her side.
It just so happened that Jo’s cousin Lisa Conn, also from Sale, was in her own battle with breast cancer and all the nasties that follow.
“It attacks your hair, your skin, your breasts, your fertility, everything that makes you a woman,” Jo said to the dazzling crowd.
Not long after her cancer’s recurrence and while Jo was still living in Melbourne, Lisa was scheduled for a girl’s night out, a getaway to the big smoke.
Jo would not have it when she received a call from Lisa saying she didn’t want to go, she was feeling the breast cancer blues, and after offering a pamper session, her cousin was standing on her front porch a few hours later.
“I remember her arriving at the front door, and in typical Lisa style, she announced, ‘So what can you do with this?'”Jo said.
“After hours of moisturisers, makeup and tizzying her up, I took her to the mirror and in typical Lisa style, she exclaimed, ‘I’m beautiful!’
“What a change from when she had first arrived to literally skipping down the driveway and kicking her heels as she left.
“Lisa was always beautiful to me no matter how she looked, but I realised that it wasn’t how I had made her look; it was how I had made her feel, and that was when Defining Beauty was born.”
Lisa Conn died in 2018 at the age of 43.
After Jo shared her story with the 160 Black or Bling guests, special guest speaker, Sale breast care nurse Deanne Russo, addressed the group, emphasising Jo’s message of women needing to check their breasts and spreading the word about her services.
Treasurer of the Footprints Foundation – Sale’s Rachael Bye, and founder of Forevermore Foundation, Belle Chapman, were also guest speakers at the event.
Black or Bling was such a success, Jo is already working on making it an annual event.
“It was such a fantastic night,” she said.
“We are definitely going to have it again next year.
“It really was such a success
“The bar staff were fantastic and had an absolute ball.
“I hope it raised awareness about the importance of getting your breasts checked, not just for women in their 50s, but also for women in their 20s and 30s.
“It’s horrible, but young women between 25 and 30 are getting diagnosed all the time.”
The night raised $11,125 for Defining Beauty’s Boozom Buddies program.
Jo is now collaborating with Trish Thompson from Gippsland Primary Health Network for more support services for those battling cancer.
