A Very Special Birthday

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Ha-peeee birrrrth-day dear Ingrid! Happy birthday to you!

*cheers and fanfare*

Who is Ingrid you may be asking?

Well, the exceptional woman I'm speaking of is Ingrid Chiang and she's played bassoon in our orchestra for the past 10 years.

Ingrid, who turns 36 today, will be one of Vancouver Opera volunteers participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure run on Sunday, October 4.






Besides the fact that the Run for the Cure is a worthwhile cause to be involved in, the run strikes a very personal chord with Ingrid and with Vancouver Opera.

Ingrid was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. Her left breast had been exhibiting unusual symptons the past couple of years. At first her doctor advised her that he couldn't find anything wrong with her breast, but sadly, that turned out not to be the case.

When she came back from a tour to China with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Ingrid was advised that she had stage 3 breast cancer and that the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes. She had to have a mastectomy.

Ingrid just finished her chemotherapy last month and will be starting her radiation treatment this afternoon. That will be followed by one year of injections and 5 years of oral medications.

Like many women who have breast cancer, Ingrid has no family history of the disease.

This year's run will be Ingrid's first ever run. She will be accompanied by her husband Mike Neal and their 13 year old daughter Kyra Blair, as they take on the 5k circuit.


Company Manager Adrianne Wurz and Ingrid Chiang

We at Vancouver Opera will be supporting Ingrid and the tens of thousands of women afflicted by this horrible disease this Sunday.

If you would like to make a donation to Ingrid and CIBC Run for the Cure, click on Support a Participant and enter Ingrid Chiang. The run location is Vancouver.

If you would like to make a general donation to the Vancouver Opera team, you can also enter Vancouver Opera in the participant search.

Help create a future without breast cancer by making a donation today.

To find out more, please go to Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.