Two men whose moms died of breast cancer joined forces to do something good to raise awareness about a disease that kills 42,000 women in the U.S. every year.
The BarbaraCares Foundation hosted its annual Care2Fight Health & Wellness Fair last weekend in Fort Worth. Women got access to almost a dozen free health screenings from mammograms to heart exams with CPR training included.
They also spent a little time with former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James. His Bradie James Foundation 56 - named after his Cowboys jersey - sponsored the free mammograms as part of its mission to prevent breast cancer.
James and the founder of BarbaraCares, Xavier Sanders, share a bond. Breast cancer took the lives of their moms, and each man started nonprofits to fight cancer and provide services to patients living with cancer and their families.
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Sanders tells NBC5 that his mom Barbara passed away in 2018 due to a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis. The experience sparked the formation of the nonprofit BarbaraCares Foundation, and it is now his life's mission to ensure access to care and supportive services for individuals at risk and for those facing breast cancer in Texas.
In the case of James, he was a student at LSU when he lost both of his parents within three months of each other. His dad, also named Bradie, died of kidney disease and his mother, Etta, died from breast cancer.
As James healed from his tragic losses, he vowed to defend against the cancer that took his mother's life. Since 2007, Foundation 56, has served thousands of women by helping with treatment care, mammogram testing, and emotional support.
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"Until I'm at zero in my bank account and there's no more money around, we're not even using currency, I will push this and continue to help women as long as I can," James told NBC5 in 2014.
The work is critically important in the African-American community. The Centers for Disease Control reports Black women have a higher rate of death from breast cancer than all other women.
"The Care2Fight Health & Wellness Fair was not only a day of empowerment but also a significant step towards raising awareness and supporting those in need on various health issues," said Sanders in an email.
