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Harrisburg resident helps raise money for, awareness of breast cancer
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Published: October 2, 2009
The 13th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure will turn uptown Charlotte streets Pink on Saturday, as close to 15,000 people will run or walk the event to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this race coincides with a monthlong campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer.
The amount of participants expected will make it the largest turnout for the run yet. Participants will include a team created by Carolina Panther running back DeAngelo Williams, whose mother, Sandra Hill, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2004.
Harrisburg resident Joanne Parillo, 45, is one of the 495 team members helping Williams raise his goal of $25,000 for breast cancer.
Parillo began her interest in cancer as a research scientist studying genetic engineering, but wanted to be involved with people as an oncology nurse. Now she works for Millennium Pharmaceuticals, a Takeda Oncology Company, and is working on a doctorate degree.
Parillo set a personal goal of $5,000 for Williams' team. She is close to that already.
Walking in the 5K will be difficult for Parillo since she suffers from Ehlers-Danlows Syndrome.
EDS is an inherited connective tissue disorder that causes a defect in the production of collagen, which means she has no cushion between her joints.
She started the Charlotte chapter of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
"I do what I can. I do so much. Getting involved wasn't my choice. I was led to it by the Lord," Parillo said.
She likes to do a lot of advocacy for oncology.
"It's like a spider web that you can't get out of. It just gets bigger and bigger."
Why did she choose Williams' team to represent in the race?
"I am a huge Panther fan, and I'm a huge football fan," Parillo said.
Hill didn't tell her son about her cancer at first. Williams said she told him the news after she'd already undergone a double mastectomy and was in remission.
He was attending the University of Memphis at the time.
Williams feels his mother is definitely a rock in his life and that she has been through so much.
His mother told him she'd kept it a secret from him so he wouldn't have to worry about her fight and he could stay focused on school and football.
Williams has started a team for this year Charlotte Race for the Cure Team in honor of his mother.
He's calling it the Williams Warriors.
"She's a warrior," he said.
Up to 75 percent of the donations are used for local programs and 25 percent is used to fund breast cancer research.
So far $512,000 of a $600,000 goal has been raised, according to the Charlotte Race for the Cure Web site.
If you'd like to make a donation for Joanne Parillo or to donate to "Williams Warriors" go to www.komencharlotte.org.
• Contact reporter Robin L. Gardner: 704-789-9140
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