Michelle was 38 years old when she went for a mammogram after her sister, Barbara, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Michelle soon learned that she had cancer and the two sisters fought their battle together, side by side, through surgery and chemotherapy.

The rest of their family decided to pursue genetic testing for cancer, which showed the women carry a gene mutation for breast cancer. The disease, which had been passed on through generations of women in their family, has devastated them, but has not broken them.

Today, they stand tall and proud – with knowledge and the power to help the next generation of women in their family beat breast cancer. This is their story.

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Amy Link always knew she would get breast cancer.

“For me the question wasn’t ‘if?’ it was ‘when?” says Amy. When she was eight, she watched her mother lose her battle with breast cancer at age 32. And her grandmother died of the disease in her 50s.

In September 2006, at age 38, Amy’s question was answered. The wife and mother of two young children found a lump in her breast and another under her arm. Over a six week period Amy met with a Cooper genetic counselor, had genetic testing, underwent a mammogram, ultrasound and lumpectomy, and ultimately received the expected diagnosis of breast cancer. Amy talked over her options with Dr. Generosa Grana, director of the Cooper Cancer Institute, and decided to move forward with a double mastectomy.

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