October 29, 2020 – When AAA members called for help throughout the month of October, they likely noticed something pink on every driver – and that’s the point.  The legendary roadside rescue team has been honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month while serving drivers who break down on the road. 

As AAA drivers wear pink pins to show support, they know that many of the state’s 423,000 AAA members have been affected personally or through friend and family relationships. About 1 in 8 U.S. women will develop invasive breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.  

     Joni Frank and AAA’s Andre Mayo get ready to parade AAA Oklahoma’s pink tow truck.

It’s a dreaded disease and fight that hits home for AAA Oklahoma’s Mark Madeja, a Senior Specialist in Public & Government Affairs in Tulsa, OK. In 2019, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a bi-lateral mastectomy. Now, cancer free, Mark and his wife Joni recently decorated their car and – along with AAA’s pink roadside rescue truck - joined in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Survivor Parade in Tulsa.

“Finding out my wife had breast cancer was certainly one of the scariest times of our lives,” said Madeja. “Fortunately, our situation was one where early detection through a routine, annual mammogram allowed for effective treatments. It is something I don’t wish on anyone, though, and certainly have a new level of compassion for those who battle the disease.”

Joni Frank and Mark Madeja, AAA associate, celebrate Joni's survival of breast cancer.

AAA Oklahoma is proud to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual international health campaign to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, early screening and diagnosis, treatment and cure.