Susan G. Komen Foundation honors FBN’s Gerri Willis with ‘Impact Award’
The Susan G. Komen Foundation honored FOX Business anchor Gerri Willis on Wednesday at the organization’s 2018 Impact Awards for her efforts in raising money and awareness to find a cure for cancer.
Willis received the “Surviving With Impact Award” after raising more than $21,000 for the Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure in New York City.
“I was face to face with my fear for the first time,” Willis said in her acceptance speech. “What if cancer won and I lost…I never did get back to normal, ever. I wasn’t the same old Gerri, I was better. I was more patient. I knew what was important.”
By embracing her diagnosis, Willis said, she was able to contribute to the efforts by her doctors at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to save her life.
“For me, the experience was humbling and inspiring,” she said. “It made me appreciate my life and the gifts God gives us.”
The event was made that much more special by the great support Willis received from her Fox News and FOX Business colleagues who were present at the event.
“Gerri, we love her and she has been through so much and we support her,” Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt said. “She is one of my good friends and I just love her and she has a heart of gold.”
Willis was diagnosed with Stage III Lobular Breast Cancer on April 28th 2016 and is now cancer free.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation has raised nearly $3 billion for breast cancer research and services for women with breast cancer over its 36 year life. The organization was started by former U.S. ambassador Nancy Brinker to honor her sister who died of the disease.
It is estimated that over 252,710 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 40,500 will die each year, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation.