'Her fight is our fight': T-Shirt sales supporting Chatham-Kent councillor living with cancer

Melissa Harrigan remains positive and optimistic following a breast cancer diagnosis last month, thanks in part to an outpouring of community support.

The 35-year-old Chatham-Kent councillor revealed in December she has Invasive Ductal Carcinoma and would be temporarily stepping away from her political duties.

"Being diagnosed with cancer was the bad news," Harrigan said. "The good news is that everything has been moving really quickly and treatment starting and I'm responding well to the treatment. So it's all positive from here on out."

Harrigan’s former council colleague and longtime family friend Mark Authier and his wife Lynn recently started pressing pink t-shirts at their professional printing shops in Tilbury and Wallaceburg.

The shirts read, "Her fight is our fight." Proceeds from their sale are going to a charity of Harrigan’s choosing.

"We know it's going be a long, hard road for her so whatever we can do to help," said Mark Authier.

“She was a friend before we were councillors together. We've known her for years. Obviously, if we can help in any way that we can, we’ve offered that as well but whatever she would like the money to go to, we’ll be more than happy to put it towards that.”

The shirts are 20 dollars, with five dollars from each going to a community cause.

Lynn said since they started over the holidays, they’ve had to order more to keep up with demand, adding some have been sent as far away as Wiarton and Ottawa.

"That's the nice thing about living in a small community too. There's lots of support."

Authier said orders can be made by email.

"Women do have a lot of fights, really. We have a lot of things that we have to deal with. So yes, it's kind of universal, but this one is, you know, it's meant to help out Melissa's cause and we hope we do well with it."

Harrigan tells CTV News she’s hopeful treatment will help her be cancer-free within six to eight months.

"I made a decision really early in my cancer diagnosis to be very public about it, partly for myself because I'm a big extrovert and really feed off of the positive energy of people around me but also partly to raise awareness about the importance of young women and breast cancer screening and breast cancer symptoms," Harrigan explained.

"So sharing my story, if people see it on a social media post, me cutting my hair short or dyeing my hair pink or at the chemo unit, that reminds them to do a self breast exam or to call and follow up on their family doctor if they see something that's abnormal or feel something different in their bodies, then I've been able to do some good out of this cancer diagnosis."

The two-term councillor said she’s considering the proceeds go to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation to support the diagnostic imaging department.

"It's certainly an area of need. For small communities like Chatham-Kent, it’s really important that we have state-of-the-art technology so that rural women can also get excellent care for their diagnostic needs and that helps not just breast cancer patients but also mothers and women and other cancer patients who are going through the diagnostic process," she said.

"I really see this as an opportunity for me to climb a mountain, get a different perspective and teach my children and my family about resiliency and how we can make the best of everything. So there are hard moments, but those moments are fleeting and always quickly resolved by loving, supportive family members."