TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) -- No one puts fun into life like Jane Parker. Dressed in her pink hair, her pink shoes and her hand-made pink skirt, Parker wore an outfit she said was fit for a survivor.
"It was in 1959, I believe. That was a long time ago. But you know, I got over [breast cancer] and everything. I'm so thankful," smiled Parker.
You see, she beat the disease over 50 years ago, well before the advance treatments we have today. She said she comes every year to the "Pretty in Pink" luncheon to support the new survivors.
"I like to see other people that have survived," Parker said. "It makes me feel good that they can get over it."
All the survivors received a pink hat as a sign of victory. Betsy Maxcy donned her hat in pride. She said while it was scary when she was diagnosed in 2011, things are different now.
"I'm cancer free right now. I'm a survivor and thank God for it," said Maxcy.
Her story rings true for many of the other women at the luncheon. All of the survivors we talked to said knowing their body was the key to survival.
"I am a breast cancer survivor and the reason I'm here today is [because] my mammogram found my cancer; nothing else did. Clinical breast exam didn't, self breast exams didn't, the ultrasound didn't. It was the mammogram," said organizer Liz Dawson.
Studies show one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes in the United States. But leaders said one-third of those lives could have been saved through early detection.
