In celebration of Look Good Feel Better’s 25th year in Canada, we’ve named 25 Heritage Heroes who have either helped the charity make it to 25 inspiring years of helping women and teens with cancer feel like themselves again, or currently play an important role and provide a powerful voice to keep the program alive for years to come.
Each of our 25 Heritage Heroes – one for each year of our program – exemplifies the very essence of Look Good Feel Better’s mission to empower and support women with cancer.
Montreal’s Lise Pettigrew has been named a Look Good Feel Better Heritage Hero for her unwavering support of the program for more than 20 years.
Pettigrew became the charity’s Host Site Coordinator at Notre-Dame Hospital in 1995 and has since worked tirelessly to connect not only women with cancer, but also oncology professionals with the valuable program.
“The workshops are an important link in the process of oncology patient care,” Pettigrew said. “We definitely feel the positive impact, which helps these women continue their fight against cancer.”
While Pettigrew has been connecting women with the program for 22 years, she can still recall one of her first challenging experiences in the role.
It was in 1995 when she picked up her first distressed call from a patient.
“This patient, like many others, was completely devastated after learning about her diagnosis,” said Pettigrew, adding that she saw a lot of herself in the caller, who was also a mother with young children. “I could see myself so helpless on the phone.”
Pettigrew gave the woman her full attention, listened to her concerns and at the end of the conversation recommended some programs, including Look Good Feel Better.
A few days later, that same woman came by her office.
“She stopped at my desk to tell me how much the workshop had enabled her to get her self-confidence back, as a woman but also as a mother,” said Pettigrew. “I was convinced of the benefits of the workshops on the spot, and this is why I still believe in it!”
