Very many congratulations to Maria Wilson of the Orihuela Costa Pink Ladies and Panthers on her recognition in the Birthday Honours list issued by King Charles this morning.
Maria, who is the President of the Orihuela Costa Branch, Asociacion Alicante Contra Cancer, Alicante, Spain, has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to Charity Fundraising in Spain.
Following her surgery for breast cancer, Maria and a group of her girly friends set up a fund-raising group to help in the fight against cancer. They called the group Maria and the Pink Ladies and in June 2010 just a few months after her surgery they organised their first “Walk for Life” along the sea front in Torrevieja, Maria completed the walk in a wheelchair pushed by husband Carl.
Due to the success of this they continued to organise events throughout the Orihuela Costa and soon became well known locally for their fund raising, to date they have raised almost €600,000, which has all been donated firstly to the AECC (Associacion Espagna Contra Cancer) but since 2015 the AACC (Associacion Alicante Contra Cancer).
Due to Maria’s early detection of her breast cancer her passion has been to impress upon the people (mainly ex pats) of Orihuela Costa the importance of early detection and the fact it can save your life if cancer is detected early enough.
Maria and her group of volunteers push the AACC¨s “Early Detection Program at all their events, their office, their web site, facebook page and at a weekly stall at Zenia Boulevard. They organise early screening tests for many different types of cancer but mainly Breast, Cervical and Prostate and book on average 50 tests every month for men and women, and so are probably responsible for saving many lives, if we accept that EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES.
Maria told the Leader, “I feel really privileged to be nominated for this award. It is a real honour. But, of course, it is not just about me, it is about all the many volunteers that have worked with the wonderful Pink Ladies/Panthers, raising very nearly 600,000 euros over the last dozen or more years. And of course, the general public who have been so generous with their support. It really has been a team effort.”
Congratulations from us all……..More to follow.
