Award-winning blogger and author Fi Munro was yesterday joined by 10 friends to help raise awareness of ovarian cancer and encourage women to talk about their bodies without shame. The women wore only teal-coloured lingerie and handed out 3,000 white roses for Ovarian Cancer Action. In January 2016 Fi Munro was diagnosed with stage 4b ovarian cancer, aged just 30. Teal is the colour that symbolises ovarian cancer and the group has been inspired by a similar stunt by Canadian model Elly Mayday, who sadly died this March, also aged 30. Fi, author of How Long Have I got?, said, ‘I want to help women to recognise the symptoms of ovarian cancer, have an opportunity to talk about their bodies and raise awareness in an engaging and original way. I think this will be eye catching and bold and get people talking.’
The number of women being diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer is constantly increasing. The two main barriers to a woman receiving an early diagnosis are them not being aware of the symptoms and them being embarrassed to talk about their bodies with their GP. Through our plans on WOCD we hope to help break down both of these barriers by firstly talking about and raising awareness of the symptoms, and secondly by doing so in our underwear so that we can demonstrate that all our bodies are different, unique and wonderful and not something to be ashamed of. I really want to help save the lives of other women,’ said Fi. Ovarian cancer is one of the five gynaecological cancers, which also include cervical, womb, vaginal and vulval. The Eve Appeal, the only UK charity raising awareness and funding research in all five cancers, is also running a campaign to encourage more open and anatomically correct conversations between women and health practitioners. Get Lippy will run throughout May and raise funds through the sale of selected beauty products, largely in Tesco. For more information please visit their website. For more details about the event contact Fi Munro.