Cooley's good fight: McComb Garden Club honors local breast cancer survivor

Amy Cooley’s courageous battle against breast cancer hasn’t gone unnoticed.

The McComb Garden Club’s “Plant It Pink” Committee paid tribute last week to the Franklin Countian as part of the group’s “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” observance during October.

“I was blessed to have such amazing friends, family and prayer warriors to help me through this difficult time,” Cooley said. “It was a battle — a battle for my life.”

She had difficult times dealing with thoughts of not being able to beat the disease, but knew if God kept waking her up every morning, there was more of His work to be done.

“Each day, I would look in the mirror and scream, yell and cry,” she continued. “Then, I would point to myself and say in a firm voice, ‘you’ve got this.’”

Cooley best advice when it comes to addressing cancers similar to her’s is taking the time for regular self examinations and doctors’ visits.

“You are never too young to have breast cancer, and it does not have to run in your family history — mine didn’t,” she said.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which got its start in 1985, seeks to heighten public awareness about the impacts of the disorder in both women and men and to raise research dollars to battle the illness.
McComb Garden Club, a member of the National Garden Clubs Inc., and the Garden Clubs of Mississippi Inc., honors those who have battled the disease to inspire others who have been or will be diagnosed with breast cancer.