December 18, 2001

Bangkok Post 
Bangkok, Thailand

One-woman walkathon
By Kate Rope

An intrepid American has set herself a marathon mission:  To walk the world and let women know that breast cancer is not a death sentence.

Polly Letofsky had wanted to walk around the world ever since she read an article when she was 12 about a man who was doing it.

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Two years, thousands of kilometres, and 17 pairs of sneaker later, she has arrived Bangkok.

"After three years of planning, I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, sold everything I owned in one day, and started out from my home in Colorado," says the indefatigable Letofsky, dressed in comfortable batik pants, Teva sandals and thick socks.

Since that day, she has walked six countries, with 16 more and two and a half years left to go.  In each country, the money she raises (from organizations and private donations) is given to local groups that educate women about how to detect breast cancer.  "This cancer is not a death sentence at all," says Letofsky.  "If it is caught in stage one, the chances of survival are 90 percent."

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So far her trek has succeeded well beyond her expectations.  In Australia she raised more than A$33,000 (759,000 baht), which was more that three times her goal, and in Thailand, she convinced the Lampang Regional Cancer Centre to open a facility devoted entirely to breast cancer education, something which is badly needed in a country where diagnosis rates are alarmingly low.

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To follow Letofsky's progress, visit her Web site at www.globalwalk.org.  For information about breast cancer, contact the Bangkok Breast cancer Support Group at 02-300-3245.

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