There’s nothing quite like a little help from a friend. So when Liz Hurley decided to put on the glitz and glamour to raise money for breast cancer research she enlisted the help of her singer Sir Elton John.
Liz, 55, who shot to fame 27 years ago when she donned a black Versace number slit to the thigh and held together by large gold safety pins, held a glamorous virtual event which helped raise $6 million for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).
The highlight of the evening was the musical tribute by Elton John, who closed the evening with a spectacular performance of “Tiny Dancer,” in tribute to BCRF’s Founder, Evelyn Lauder.
“When I reflect upon my favourite memories of my dear friend, I am thrilled to think how proud she would be that BCRF is now the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world,” said Elton John speaking about Evelyn Lauder. “No force of nature, no pandemic, can stop Evelyn’s dream of saving lives from breast cancer.’
Liz, who is the Global Ambassador for the Estee Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Campaign, said her role of 25 years is: “the most important things I do in my life.’
“I have met so many people who have lost family and friends, who may be helping the cause or who have been brave enough to talk about their own experiences with the disease, and as a result I feel my life has been enlarged and enhanced by the work I do for the BCRF,” she said.
The foundation has raised $79 million since it started in the 90s and the late businesswoman Evelyn Lauder, who died of ovarian cancer in 2011, is credited with creating and popularising the pink ribbon symbol now synonymous with breast cancer awareness.
Liz admits: ‘When I first started working for Estee Lauder and the BCRF, nobody really talked about breast cancer, it was something that was whispered about. Now it’s a brave new world.
‘It’s not a dirty little secret anymore. It is something that affects all of us. Every 14 seconds, someone, somewhere in the world is diagnosed with breast cancer. Little surprise perhaps that it is now the most common cancer worldwide.
‘Fortunately, by talking about it we’ve been able to pull together, raise awareness, raise money and we’ve seen so much progress in diagnosis, treatments, prevention. Many things have improved over the years and I’m proud to still be a part of it today. I just wish that Evelyn could be sitting here with me to see the wonderful work being done’.
Medical experts have been concerned that the pandemic has led to many people cancelling their doctors’ appointments and annual mammograms and the fear is that this will mean in sone cases the disease will be left undetected. So, it’s also a timely reminder for people to get their checks done.
Liz says: “Having a virtual evening is a lot of fun but it’s an important reminder that just because we had a pandemic, breast cancer hasn’t gone away. I am really hopeful that we will one day live in a world where women don’t die of breast cancer.”
