Woman of the Week: Yael Cohen

by Kait Fowlie

When Yael Cohen’s mother was recovering from cancer surgery in 2009, Yael overheard someone utter the two words that would soon embody her calling. Hearing a casual “f*** cancer” in passing triggered the inspiration that garnered the movement that is currently empowering Gen Y to refuse victimization, stigma, and late stage cancer diagnosis. F*** cancer has become the motto for change, and Yael is a bold messenger.

“When someone in your family gets cancer, there are no boundaries –  I did things that no daughter should have to do for their mom in the hospital, but (you) do it without question,” Yael says. This attitude compelled Yael to have a shirt made for her mom displaying the memorable utterance across the front. Her mom wore it proudly and it prompted a response from everyone who saw. To Yael and her mom’s delight, the response was, as it continues to be, overwhelmingly positive. “It’s always the unexpected ones who love it – the grandma or mom holding the 3-year old kid, they’re like ‘Yeah! F*** cancer!’” Yael says.

Before she knew it, the single t-shirt had become the F*** Cancer campaign, a non-profit and registered charity in Canada and the Unites States. Yael was working in the financial sector for a public commodities company at the time of the campaign's inception, and she managed to juggle both jobs for about a year. “They let me leave at 2 and go to the F*** Cancer office. We wouldn’t be where we are without their leniency.” Eventually, Yael left her day job and devoted herself fully to F*** Cancer. 

F*** Cancer is different from any other charity in that it doesn’t put funds toward cancer research specifically, but rather toward making a more immediate change. The change Yael's organization strives for starts by opening the gates of discussion, hence the provocative slogan. “The goal is to get people talking about (cancer) before they have to ... when we sit here and wait until someone we love gets it, then it becomes our entire world. If we can start thinking about it before we have to, it’s a whole different game,” says Yael. Gen Y (anyone ages 17 – 35, but to Yael, it includes anyone with a parent) holds more influence over their parents now than any other generation. If Gen Y is equipped with the tools to identify cancer in its early stages, then this generation and every one after it will be spared suffering, humiliation, and the pain of losing loved ones, and will ultimately make late stage cancer diagnosis history.

Many of us may not live to see a cure for the disease, but F*** Cancer has already had a hugely positive impact on many lives. Aside from selling iconic t-shirts (censored and non censored versions), the organization has a strong social media presence and dynamic website. Letsfcancer.com provides a community space for people to support each other, learn about cancer, and vent. The “get educated” section contains cheat sheets with risk factors and warning symptoms, and a “shout out page” offers a platform where supporters can post their thoughts in writing, video, or pictures.

The personal nature of the disease requires a highly personal support system and for this reason, Yael strives to be honest and intimate with her followers. She has made an effort to familiarize herself first hand with the myriad of cancer prevention practices out there. “I’ve tried it all – I was vegan for the better part of a year, I’ve been vegetarian, I’ve tried going alkaline, I’ve tried green juice every morning, I’ve tried the exercises - anything to see how it makes my body feel. The underlying theme in all of those (cancer preventing) diets or lifestyles is clean eating, so that’s what we try to preach. I want to be able to speak from experience when people ask me about that,” Yael explains.

It’s Yael’s passion for cancer awareness that makes her deep and personal commitment to the F*** Cancer community possible. In fact, her relationship with some 50,000 followers is not unlike the one she has with her mom, of which she states, “we are incredibly close and we remain that way through cancer.”