ST. GEORGE — A series of public service announcements are featuring four Staten Island breast cancer survivors who share their stories to encourage women to get regular mammograms.
Borough President James Oddo on Thursday unveiled the PSAs he commissioned to remind Staten Island women to get mammograms regularly and encourage them to start screenings at an earlier age.
"These women have decided to speak publicly about what they have endured to benefit other women to drive the point home," Oddo said.
"Women need to consult their physicians and not put off screening, not put off the decision."
The ads feature four women — Linda Altini, Christine Badillo, Anne Devlin and Jennifer Shea — sharing their stories of how they survived cancer and how it was detected with facts about the disease.
The PSAs were posted to the borough president's website and Oddo said that his office will send them to local groups, churches and movie theaters to get them seen.
Badillo, who was diagnosed in 2012 while she was 30 weeks pregnant at age 32, said that she hopes the ads convince women to start getting tested earlier to be able to catch the disease and treat it.
"It's so important to have early screening," Badillo said.
"In my case, that's what helped save our lives, and I have two lives that were saved by early screening. It's really so important for all women to just be involved in their health care and speak with their doctors and go for that mammogram."
Aside from the videos, Oddo said his office created print versions of the ads to distribute around the borough.
