WOMEN in Cyprus on Sunday broke the Guinness world record for the longest bra chain in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness and encourage women to have regular check-ups.

The chain stretched over 111km, consisting of 114,782 bras, laid out along the pier of Paphos harbour. The huge chain formed a circle around the picturesque harbour.
Gina Ghillyer, who is one of the two organisers, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail: “We are all elated and are still waiting for the euphoria to die down.

“It was wonderful to see so many people from around the world rallying around for the cause and it gave us such a great feeling. The support we received was tremendous. If you saw the bras we received with the messages inside, it would break your heart, it was so moving.”

One hundred and eleven pink balloons, one for every kilometre, were released into the air after the last bra was attached, in a symbolic gesture to celebrate the victory.

The other woman behind the scheme, Louise van Rooij, then read a message of hope written on two bras by a woman who was dying of breast cancer and whose mother had already been struck down by the disease, as people wept openly.

“It feels unbelievable, it’s a very emotional time and I’m very proud of everyone. We have the record,” she said.

The two women organised the attempt to beat the world record, which was set in Sentosa Island, Singapore in 2003, with a 60-kilometre bra chain consisting of 79,001 bras.

A sum of £50,000 has been collected, with more money coming in. The funds are going to the Paphos Cancer Patient Support Group, which will use them to improve services for cancer patients throughout Cyprus.

Official documentation is being sent to Guinness for the record’s verification, but the real goal is to increase breast cancer awareness.

“There is a taboo in Cyprus about talking about breast cancer and we would rather women went for regular check-ups than go to prayers,” Rooij said. “I spoke to one oncologist afterwards and he told me there was a 30 per cent increase in people inquiring for check-ups, so it seems to be working,” she added.

The primary motivation for the event came when the organisers became aware that the rate of new breast cancer cases in Cyprus was more than 300 a year, a high number for a country that has less than a million people.

Ghillyer added: “cancer doesn’t necessarily kill but negligence will. If we can diagnose it early, maybe we can reduce the statistics.”

Another positive to emerge is the creation of the first database reminder service in Cyprus, with over 4,000 names already collected.

“This database is really great and we plan to move forward with it by including men and all types of cancers.”