Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Richmond woman rallies for breast cancer survivors

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) -

A Richmond woman's quest to help survivors of breast cancer is turning heads at Victoria's Secret.

The Westover Hills resident's online petition may lead to the retailer selling special bras for women who have had mastectomies.

Allana Maiden wants Victoria Secret to market a "survivor bra," which is for women who have had a mastectomy and has a special pocket for a prosthetic. For nearly her entire life, she's known her mother as a breast cancer survivor. Ever since her mother's mastectomy 21-years-ago her mother has been driving an hour and a half from Saltville in Southwest Virginia to Johnson City, Tennessee to get a specialty bra. Maiden decided that needed to change.

"Sometimes the survivors and the things they have to go through sort of get forgotten," Maiden said.

So Maiden created a petition on Change.org asking Victoria's Secret to create a survivor bra for people like her mom. She shared it on her Facebook page and with the site's help picked up 120,000 signatures in just one month.

Hollywood actress Pam Grier signed the petition, the story got national attention and soon it had a life of its own. Her mother just had two small questions.

"She said, 'You did what?'?and 'Do I have to talk to reporters?'" recalls Maiden.

Soon, Maiden and her mother were in New York to deliver the petition, in Victoria's Secret bags, to executives at the chain. The company was listening.

"Just the fact that they're thinking about doing it is a step in the right direction," said Maiden.

It's been a whirlwind for Maiden, who never expected to end up in the spotlight.

"Definitely not, I'm usually a quiet person. I don't like to be the center of attention," explained Maiden.?"It's been overwhelming, nerve wracking, but very exciting with everything that's been going on."

Victoria's Secret has been talking with Maiden about the idea and she's optimistic it will become a reality. The next step is a trip to the corporate headquarters in Columbus, Ohio next month.

Copyright 2013 WWBT NBC12.? All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.nbc12.com/story/21253320/richmond-woman-rallies-for-breast-cancer-survivors

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