Her loved ones may have thought she was ‘totally mad’ when she told them of the idea, but it didn’t deter Donna Falconer from quitting her job, selling her house and buying the Groovy Booby Bus.
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Ms Falconer has one simple goal: to get people talking about breast cancer.
“I can honestly say I didn’t think that it would happen to me but a conversation started and saved my life,” she said.
It’s been seven years since Ms Falconer was diagnosed with breast cancer herself. Now that her kids have grown up she said it was the right time to take a ‘gap year’ and champion her cause.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 85.
“Only 55 per cent of people are getting the screening,” Ms Falconer said.
“Also we need to get out there that it happens to men. Just because you’re a man doesn’t mean you can’t get breast cancer. You grow ‘em, you should know ‘em.
“It can happen to anyone. 100 per cent of the population have breasts and so we all need to be breast aware.”
Ms Falconer recently traveled to Queensland in the Groovy Booby Bus. Even if people were simply reading the messages on the bus as she drove past, Ms Falconer said it would make a small difference.
I can honestly say I didn’t think that it would happen to me but a conversation started and saved my life.
- Donna Falconer
“Even when I’m just pulled up at the caravan park, someone might see the bus and think ‘I really need to go and have a scan’,” she said.
The booby bus was a ‘bit of a fun way’ to start the conversation, Ms Falconer said.
It would take only one person having a scan done to make her cause worthwhile, she said.
It’s not he first time Ms Falconer has dedicated herself to the breast cancer cause. She founded Pink Angels, which helps to support patients through services such as housekeeping, childcare and by providing care packs.
After experiencing gaps within her own healthcare, Ms Falconer realised other women must be having the same experiences.
Now however, Ms Falconer said the Pink Angels was left in capable hands while she got the Groovy Booby Bus out there.
Her next plan for the bus was to cover the regional area, she said, especially in some of the smaller towns, making sure people started talking about breast cancer.