Women’s Basketball: UL women remember Andrea Brodhead with inaugural cancer walk ahead of Texas St.

Nick Fontenot, Special to the Advertiser, Feb. 20, 2019

Garry Brodhead plans to never stop talking about cancer.

He plans to never stop raising awareness. He plans to never stop seeking a cure.

On Saturday, the inaugural Cancer Walk sponsored by the Andrea Brodhead Foundation will take place at 10 a.m. The walk, named after Brodhead’s late wife, Andrea, will raise funds for a new scholarship named in her honor.

“It’s a big part of not only my family but the Cajuns family,” said Brodhead, who lost Andrea in September of 2015. 

“When you talk about cancer in our region, it is prevalent everywhere. For me, the higher the mountain I can get on and the higher I can speak about it, the more I think we can make a difference in people’s lives.”

Registration for the walk will be at the Cajundome beginning at 8:30 a.m. All cancer survivors will be able to walk for free and a $10 donation will allow other participants to walk.

Andrea Brodhead suffered from an abnormally aggressive and unfamiliar type of breast cancer. She took part in a trial treatment that may not have saved her life, but may save many others.

“We asked if after she passed, could they continue to experiment with some of her cancers,” Brodhead said. “We found out two weeks ago that some of the mutations that she had were very aggressive and something they never knew about. 

“I think it is gong to help save lives as far as helping to treat that particular form of breast cancer. My wife may have passed, but she is still making a difference in other people’s lives.”

Making a difference in other people’s lives is what Andrea Brodhead did nearly every day of her life. She gave countless hours to developing girls basketball in the Acadiana region.

Garry Brodhead said they are still raising funds for the Andrea Brodhead Scholarship at the University of Louisiana. He said all funds raised from Saturday’s walk will go to the scholarship and said it is a wonderful way to carry on Andrea’s name.

“My wife gave a lot to basketball,” he said. “I would want people to come out and support her. We will provide a scholarship to someone in Acadiana who has cancer or whose family is fighting cancer.  We want them to continue their education so that they can be a part of our family. We are very proud to be a part of that and we hope we will make bigger advances.”

Brodhead said he has full confidence in the UL administration to continue to support his cause. He said he has seen so much improvement in the medical field and he hopes he can continue to be a part of the advances.

“There are so many good medical treatments now, and I think there have been so many positive things come out of such a negative,” Brodhead said. “I want to give back so much and I know we have the right administration to continue to do better. We have no clue how many walkers we’ll have Saturday, but I know we will have great leadership and I know we’ll be able to continue on to much bigger things.

Saturday at 2 p.m., the Cajuns will face Texas State in one of the more important games they will play this season with postseason implications riding on its outcome. Everyone who takes part in the Cancer Walk will receive a T-shirt and will gain free admission to the game.

Brodhead said he is anticipating the game — to coaching his players in the game that has meant so much to his family and his wife. One might think Saturday’s game would be tough to be a part of, but to Brodhead, Saturday’s game will be the perfect way to cap a celebratory day.

“When we first started this seven years ago, it was all about awareness,” Brodhead said. “We have to be aware of what cancer does and how early detection can make a big difference. After my wife passed, it changed to ‘What do we need to do to treat these diseases?’

“I talk about our institution all the time. It is a great institution and we are just trying to help educate people about this dreaded disease and the fight that we have. Saturday, I really want to have a game. But I really want 10,000 people fighting cancer. That would be my goal. This is the first year of the walk and I would love the Cajun people to share that passion with us.”