‘We sold out in 12 hours’: 22 cancer survivors strut their stuff in fundraising fashion show

22 cancer survivors will strut their stuff at a fundraising fashion show in Kingsbridge on April 30, 2025. The Celebrate Life Cancer Survivors Fashion Show sold out in 12 hours. (Scott Miller/CTV News London)

Twenty-two cancer survivors will take to the stage at the Kingsbridge Centre in Huron County tonight to show themselves — and their community — that life does not have to end with a cancer diagnosis.

“I think as a 40-year cancer survivor, I felt it was incumbent on me to show people that there is a life after cancer, that cancer really affects your life, but it does not have to define your life,” says Maureen Nummelin, who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer 40 years ago.

Another model, Mary Chippa of Wingham, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August.

“I consider myself one of the lucky ones. It was caught early by the radiologist in Listowel. And because of that, I did not have to have chemotherapy or that type of further treatment. So early diagnosis, early treatment is huge,” she says.

The Celebrate Life Cancer Survivors Fashion Show sold out in 12 hours. Organizer Anita Snobelen ran similar cancer survivor fashion shows in Chatham before recently moving to Huron County and bringing the idea with her.

“We want to make certain that even though you have a cancer diagnosis or a loved one does, it does not mean that we cannot still celebrate life. And that is the overall theme — to celebrate life, and to bring hope to people, to hear the stories and the hope that is embedded in those stories, and just to give people the lift that they need,” say Snobelen and fellow organizer Jackie Simpson.

The event will also raise money for Wheels of Hope, a Canadian Cancer Society program that arranges rides for patients to and from cancer treatments.

“It’s expensive to go to London or Owen Sound or anywhere — the cost of parking and driving. If you do not have a car, how do you get there? And when you are that scared, when you get that diagnosis, your mind immediately goes to the worst. ‘I’m dying,’” says Kimberley Payne of Goderich, a six-year colorectal cancer survivor.

While the event is meant to inspire and educate, walking out on stage will be emotional for all 22 participants, who at one point were unsure they would carry on.

“You can change up your life, and maybe you have to go off in a different direction. But at the end of the day, you will be who you will be. And it is just one of those tribulations that happens along the way,” says Nummelin.

“It does not go away, so you live with that. And it’s like grief — you make room for it in your life. You are always going to know that you had it,” says Payne.

The sold-out Celebrate Life Cancer Survivors Fashion Show runs tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Kingsbridge Centre, north of Goderich.