Kris Hallenga, Who Urged Young on Breast Cancer Awareness, Dies at 38

Following her diagnosis at the age of 23, she made it her mission to enlighten other young folks about the importance of detecting cancer early on.

At the age of 23, Kris Hallenga found out she had Stage 4 breast cancer, which is the most severe kind of breast cancer. This news caused her to have many questions such as, "Why was I not informed about the importance of checking my breasts? Why was I unaware that I could possibly develop breast cancer at such a young age?"

During a 2021 interview with The Guardian, she explained that if she wasn't aware that breast cancer could occur at a young age, it was likely that others were also unaware of this fact. As a result, she spent the following 15 years raising awareness among young people about the importance of early detection through her nonprofit organization, CoppaFeel. In her recent memoir, "Glittering a Turd," she discusses her experiences with breast cancer.

CoppaFeel shared the sad news on Monday that Ms. Hallenga had passed away at the age of 38. A representative from the organization stated that she passed away at her residence in Cornwall, England due to complications from breast cancer.

During a promotional trip in 2021, she declared that simply surviving was insufficient. She desires to have the ability to examine her life and proclaim, "I am content to still be present, and I am maximizing everything I want out of life."

According to The Times of London, Kristen Hallenga came into this world on November 11, 1985. She was born in a little town called Norden, located in northern Germany. Kristen's parents were both teachers. Her father was German, and her mother was English. At the age of 9, Kristen and her family moved to a new place in central England called Daventry. Her family included her mother, Jane Hallenga, her twin sister, Maren Hallenga, and her older sister, Maike Hallenga. All three of her sisters are still alive today. Unfortunately, Kristen's dad, Reiner Hallenga, passed away when Kristen was 20 years old. He died from a heart attack.

In 2009, Ms. Hallenga noticed a lump while she was teaching and working for a travel company in Beijing. When she returned home to central England, she went to see her general doctor. According to The Guardian, the doctor attributed the lump to the hormonal changes caused by the birth control pill.

However, the bump became increasingly uncomfortable and started to discharge blood. A different medical professional provided her with a diagnosis resembling the previous one - linked to her hormones and contraceptive pill. Nevertheless, Ms. Hallenga did not have any benchmark to compare this to as she wasn't aware of what a typical diagnosis should be.

Ms. Hallenga stated in 2021 that she had not been handling her breasts at all and was unaware of them.

Ms. Hallenga's mother was determined to make sure her daughter got checked out at a breast clinic, especially since her own mother had battled the disease at a young age. Unfortunately, even though Ms. Hallenga eventually got a diagnosis, it came too late. By the time the lump was found, it had already spread to her spine and the prognosis was grim.

Following a harsh series of cancer treatments including chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and hormone therapy, reports showed that in 2011, the cancer had extended to her liver, according to The Huffington Post. After a year, physicians discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain, leading her to undergo intense radiotherapy to eliminate a tumor.

Despite her illness, she persisted with her work. She penned columns discussing her cancer diagnosis and advocacy efforts for publications, The Northampton Chronicle and Echo and The Sun. However, it was her contributions to CoppaFeel that made a massive impact on her intended demographic: the youth.

The group has dispatched numerous notifications for self-examinations for breasts through SMS, formed a team of ladies famous as the Boobettes who visit schools to offer insights on how they faced cancer at a young age, aided in introducing knowledge about cancer into the UK education plan, and broadcasted a commercial on daytime television that included an exposed nipple to prompt individuals to check their chest.

The entire effort was made with the intention of aiding others in escaping a diagnosis similar to the one that Ms. Hallenga was confronting.

The term "cancer" frequently comes with a bundle of words such as "survivor," "thriver," and "warrior." It's beneficial if these words assist someone in coping with the disease or gain outlook. This is according to Ms. Hallenga when she released her memoir. Nevertheless, she cannot relate to those terms because, for her, being alive means more than just surviving. She asserts that being happy in life is more important than just existing.

Ms. Hallenga left her role as the head of CoppaFeel in 2017, relocating to Cornwall to have more quality time with her sister, Maren. In June last year, she organized her own alive funeral at Truro Cathedral, where all guests were supposed to dress in YODO and remember that death is a reality. The event was conducted by Dawn French, who played a priest in the popular BBC comedy, The Vicar of Dibley.

On Instagram, Ms. Hallenga expressed her feelings after the occasion and wrote, "I have never experienced affection like this before. I have never had happiness to this extent. I have never felt this strongly connected to the concept of death. I have never felt so full of life."