“Hand to heart” campaign raises awareness for breast cancer

“Seeing hands” teach women how to perform a breast self-exam

To close the awareness campaign at the end of October, we hosted a special prevention week at our Neutraubling plant, which was supported by a special four-legged companion.

But first things first: A tactile breast examination is a preventive screening performed by a specially trained visually impaired woman, a medical-tactile examiner (MTE). The organization “discovering hands” trains and certifies MTEs, who also teach women how to perform a breast self-exam. Women at our Neutraubling plant had the opportunity to book individual appointments for the tactile examination and self-exam training with MTE Marie Schenk, who was on site all week long with her seeing eye dog Kio. Marie Schenk is visually impaired. And because of that, she has a heightened sense of touch, which puts the ability to detect even the most subtle lumps at a very early stage, literally, at her fingertips. Marie also showed participants, step by step, how to perform a breast self-exam: “Breast health requires a certain level of personal responsibility, because breast cancer is highly treatable. It’s so important to get to know your own breasts – many women don’t even know what their breasts feel like. So, kudos to everyone who has taken this step and decided to take active responsibility for their own health,” says Marie Schenk, stressing the significance of this preventive measure.

From left to right: Director of Krones BKK Michael Niedermeier and Theresa Fleischer of Krones BKK, together with certified medical-tactile examiner Marie Schenk and her seeing eye dog Kio as well as Florian Hirsch and Stefanie Drenda of Health Management

The participants, too, had only good things to say about the program. Here’s Bettina: “After a family member was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago, I had begun to research breast cancer and prevention on my own. So, this campaign came at just the right time for me. The tactile exam was completely new for me, and the instruction in how to perform a self-exam was very interesting,” she says.

The presentations also helped allay a lot of fears and uncertainty. I can certainly recommend to everyone: Get educated about this now! BettinaParticipated in the “Seeing hands” campaign

Article 37842 — How to perform a self-exam

Motivational speech by Regina Halmich

Krones closed the breast cancer awareness month with a real highlight. The women’s network Women@Krones teamed up with Health Management and Krones BKK to invite a celebrity speaker to Neutraubling, who inspired and empowered listeners and once again drew their awareness to the importance of taking their breast health into their own hands. But before our speaker took the stage, Claudia Mack of Women@Krones welcomed those in attendance – and immediately caught their attention with these opening words: “There are about 100 women in this room right now. Statistically, that means that twelve of us will, at some point in our lives, be diagnosed with breast cancer. Brutal, isn’t it?” You could feel the sense of community and shared purpose building in the room, and it grew even stronger when Regina Halmich spoke.

Claudia Mack opened the event.
Then, Regina Halmich took to the mic.

That’s because the former professional boxer knows how to get her point across and how to make herself heard. Halmich’s words were clear: “Breast cancer is an issue that we have to talk about openly.” She herself has had a special connection to the topic since supporting a friend through her diagnosis, chemotherapy and healing. “Breast cancer is an illness that comes out of nowhere and turns your entire life upside down. Chemo changes your entire body – and the processes of diagnosis and treatment have a huge impact on a person’s mental health. Breast cancer is often curable, but it has to be found early,” says Regina Halmich, calling on her audience to understand that: “Preventive care has to be a permanent part of our lives – at the doctor’s office but also at home!”

Regina Halmich was Germany’s first female professional boxer.
Her candid speech inspired and empowered listeners.

But Regina Halmich didn’t limit her encouragement to the topic of breast health. In her 45 minutes at the podium, she also shared her own story of becoming Germany’s first female professional boxer. She frequently drew parallels between the challenges she overcame in the male-dominated world of boxing and the day-to-day career challenges facing women at Krones. She spoke of taking risks, of commitment, respect and solidarity, and of mental strength and the ability to give and receive criticism.

Regina Halmich’s inspiring, empowering talk was emblematic of the entire awareness campaign, and the events and engagement it entailed. Listening in on conversations following the presentation, we heard, once again, only words of praise.

Stefanie Drenda sums it up this way: “We wanted this campaign at Krones to draw attention to the importance of breast health, and especially to increase women’s awareness and empower them to speak openly about it. Judging by the level of enthusiasm we’ve seen and the feedback we have received, I’d say this campaign was a resounding success.”