October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. According to the American Cancer Society thousands of breast cancer survivors are saved by early detection.

Mary Noel, mother of two Wylie volleyball players, now has a chance to join thousands of women that survive breast cancer every year because of early detection. Mary would not have been as lucky if not for her sticking to her yearly mammograms.

"I went in for my yearly mammogram and the radiologist found something," Noel said. "Went back in for a diagnostic mammogram and found that it did look like it was something suspicious so went in for a biopsy and they did find out that it was dcis which is stage zero breast cancer.”

Shocking part of this news was Mary seemed to be in perfect health going into the checkup, and she had no cancer history of any kind in her family.

"When they told me, my heart just broke like it would for any of our kids, because you're so close to them. When they hurt, you hurt,” Wylie head volleyball coach Maggie Hunt said.

“I have to be strong for my little sister and be brave I can’t show weakness," Noel's oldest daughter Shelby said. "Even on tough days it’s really hard because were all struggling with it.”

“I’m thankful that the radiologist here found it early and that I went in," Noel said. "If I had not been doing my mammograms and waited then it could have been much worse

Shelby, a senior at Wylie High, and Emily, an eighth grader in Wylie Junior High, both play libero.

The volleyball team gave Mary a signed pink ball to show their support. Her daughters decided to honor their mother by wearing pink jerseys, which had to be cleared by the UIL.

"It immediately brought tears to my eyes,” Noel said, referring to her daughters wearing the jerseys. "It just meant a lot and they're going through this with me and I just wanna be brave and be an example for them and just I’m proud of them for whatever they do." 

"Pink’s a little different to me now it means a lot,” Mary’s husband Sam Corn said. “It’s pretty special both my daughters are wearing it honor of their mother."

Since being diagnosed, Mary has become an advocate of breast cancer awareness. She passed out informational pamphlets about breast cancer to the Wylie volleyball team within weeks of her diagnosis.

"I would just say because you are healthy just continue that go in for your yearly checkups with your doctors and do the mammograms -- and it's not gonna hurt anything literally takes 15 to 20 minutes,” Noel said. 

The National Cancer Institute recommends that women 40 and older should get a mammogram every one or two years.

If your family has a history of breast cancer, more visits are highly suggested. With Mary’s case going every year may have saved her life.