Survivors Parade has new meaning for local mom

Tammi Poole used to watch the Kentucky Oaks Survivors Parade along the historic homestretch of Churchill Downs with the casual interest of someone who appreciates fashion.

This year, the parade will mean much more to the Louisville mother of five because she'll be a first-time participant, rejoicing for her own survival.

She is cancer-free after being successfully treated for a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer that she was diagnosed with in September 2013.

The 7th annual parade is "a celebration of you made it," said Poole, who endured radiation, chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.

The way she and Churchill Downs see it, the day also is prime time for educating the public about breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death in women.

"I'm a huge advocate of awareness now," Poole said. "Now that I've had this fight, I freely speak to any newly diagnosed friend or even acquaintance" to offer support or to promote mammograms and self-exams.

"If I had been more diligent in self-check, I probably would have caught mine a little earlier," she said. "I'm a firm believer (that) if something doesn't feel right, even if it's something small, it's not going to hurt to get it checked out, because you never know."

Since 2009, Churchill Downs has put women's health in the spotlight on Oaks Day by encouraging visitors to wear pink and featuring breast and ovarian cancer survivors in the parade.

The survivors "serve as an inspiration and set the emotional tone for the day," said John Asher, a Churchill Downs spokesman. " ... The joy, the undeniable feeling of triumph and hope. All those things go together in there."

More than 1 million people voted in a national online nomination and voting process; 141 survivors from Louisville to Los Angeles were chosen to walk in this year's parade.

The parade includes one person for every running of the Oaks, so it grows by one each year, and allows 110,000 people or more to share in the survivors' triumph, Asher said.

Tammi's fight

Poole, 48, was nominated by her best friend, Belinda Gonterman, who praised her for battling cancer "with courage and conviction" and for chronicling her journey on a Facebook page called TeamTammi.

Poole is a survivor of inflammatory breast cancer, which accounts for 1 percent to 5 percent of all breast cancers, according to the National Cancer Institute. Often, a tumor cannot be felt with that kind of cancer, but Poole was an exception.

"My husband goes 'What is that? You need to have that checked out,' " Poole said.

The diagnosis was "very scary," said Poole, who has three young children at home and two grown children. "It was a complete shock."

On top of that, she and husband Kerry were in the midst of a renovation project at their South End home.

"I literally had no walls in three rooms of my house and had cut the back of the house out to expand my kitchen when I came home and told my husband I had cancer," she said. "... It was not the way I wanted to start out that journey, that's for sure."

With treatment behind her, she's now able to focus on more joyful things like getting her outfit together for Oaks.

"A friend of mine (Monica Young) has made a fascinator that's big enough to see, probably from space," Poole said with a laugh.

The parade is part of the Churchill Downs Pink Out, which includes awareness activities and fund-raising for the track's women's health partners.

This year, Churchill will donate $50,000 to Bright Pink, a charity that promotes breast and ovarian cancer prevention and awareness among young women.

Also benefiting will be Horses and Hope, an initiative of Kentucky first lady Jane Beshear's office and the Kentucky Cancer Program. It has worked to increase breast cancer awareness, education, screening and treatment referrals among Kentucky horse industry workers and their families.

Horses and Hope will receive $30,000 — $1 for the sale of each Oaks Lily, the official drink of the Oaks.

The celebration was inspired by former Churchill Downs employee Patricia Amburgey, who participated in the festivities before her death. She had battled multiple cancers, including breast cancer, but had "a smiling presence no matter what she was going through," Asher said.

The women's health campaign at the track "was very, very special to Patricia," who died in 2013, he said. "I think it remains very special to her family."

It's also special to the community.

"People go out and they buy their pink and they know they're buying pink because it's a cause," Poole said. "That's a lot of people in one place to be handing out information, and hopefully, they take it, they read it and they do something with it."

Courier-Journal reporter Darla Carter can be reached at (502) 582-7068, dcarter@courier-journal.com or on Twitter @PrimeDarla.