October is breast cancer awareness month, which is 31 days of the pink ribbon and celebrating those who are fighting cancer, and those who have beaten it.

The numbers are serious.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, 1 in 8 women, or 12 percent, will get breast cancer sometime in their lives. For many women, it won’t occur until they’re an advanced age.

266,120 new cases of breast cancer in U.S. women are predicted this year by the American Cancer Society.

40,920 women will die of breast cancer in 2018, the ACS predicts; it’s the second-leading cause of cancer death among women, behind lung cancer. Still, only 1 in 38 American women will die of breast cancer — 2.6 percent.

Everyone is showing their support in fighting this disease.

On Saturday, 34 men departed on bicycles from West Cancer Center in Germantown, Tennessee, and began their 525-mile to Town Center in Rosemary Beach, Florida.

Their trip brought them through Selma on Monday, and we were able to catch up with them to hear about their own experience with cancer, and why they chose to take this journey. You can find that story this week in the Times-Journal. 

The 34-person team was a sea of pink on the roads as they rode from Valley Grande to their stop for the night in Selma.

This month, we at the Times-Journal are wanting to feature those who have beaten cancer. We invite you to tell us your story so that others can be inspired to keep their own fight going.

Those wishing to be part of this can email news@selmatimesjournal.com.

We hope that everyone takes not only this month to remember those who are fighting any type of cancer, but every day of the year.

Let’s not just limit ourselves to 31 days of supporting those who are fighting and have beaten cancer.