Thousands walk for breast cancer research at Jones Beach in one of nation's largest fundraisers to battle disease

Patty Sablesack, of Deer Park, was at Jones Beach early Sunday with a large group of friends and family members to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

She was grateful that 24 years ago, a then-new drug kept her alive after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Now 66, she was part of a clinical trial for the cancer drug Herceptin, which is now a standard treatment. "It saved my life," she said, "and so we continue to walk, continue to raise money, to continue to find a cure."

Sunday was the 33rd annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, which raised funds for research and supportive programming for cancer patients and their families. Walkers also participated in Central Park for the event, one of the nation's largest such fundraisers.

Jones Beach event organizers had raised $1.7 million as of Sunday morning out of a goal of $2.5 million. Participants, who included survivors, family members and advocates, walked a 5-mile loop from Field 5 to Field 1, or any portion of the route they chose.

Shellon Blackman-Lees, a four-year cancer survivor from Northport, was at Jones Beach along with a group of 28 friends and family members, "to fight the good fight" against breast cancer.

Blackman-Lees thanked her "dream team" of surgeons, doctors and nurses at Northwell Health, where she also works as a data analyst. Her message for others: "It’s very important to get screened, and consistently get screened," she said.

Janice Fana, 44, of Queens, and her siblings and other family members attended in memory of her sister Dr. Melissa Fana, who died in April at age 48. Melissa Fana was a breast surgical oncologist at NYU Langone and "went beyond what a doctor would do for their patients," Janice Fana said. "If a patient couldn’t pick up their medication from the pharmacy, she would bring it to their home."

Melissa Fana advocated for more research and to bring more awareness of breast cancer, her sister recalled, so she and her family were walking to continue that work.

Breast cancer is the second most common form of cancer in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. This year an estimated 321,910 women and 2,670 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is expected to account for 7% of deaths from cancer.

Survival rates have increased significantly over the past 40 years. Between 1975 and 2019, breast cancer mortality decreased by 58% among women age 30 to 79, thanks to earlier screening and advances in treatment, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Participants continued to stream toward the route as the sun rose higher, many wearing various shades of pink.

Natasha Brown, 37, of Queens, held a pink banner aloft, and showed off the two medals around her neck, representing her fight as a two-year survivor. Sunday, she was to collect her third. "I walk for me as well as those who didn’t make it," she said, and for "my family members that have gone through it."

Brown was walking with her mother-in-law, aunt-in-law and her daughter Amira, 7, among other family members. "I celebrate for those that are not here," she continued, "and those that live to tell the story."