Krystal Barter
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Krystal Barter is an Australian health activist, author and founder of Humanise Health, A patient-led & advocacy agency working with businesses in the health sector. She was detected to have the BRCA1 gene at an early age and opted to undertake a preventative double
mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer choose to have ...
. Barter also had ovarian prevention surgery in 2014. She has written a book called ''The Lucky One'', about her experiences. She was honoured with Finalist
Young Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government-owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the state and territor ...
in 2012, NSW Woman of the Year and
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
Woman of Influence. In March 2014, Margie Abbott launched Barter's first published Memoir alongside
Karl Stefanovic Karl Stefanovic ( sr-Cyrl, Карл Стефановић; born 12 August 1974), also spelt Karl Stefanović, is an Australian television presenter and journalist for the Nine Network. Stefanovic is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's br ...
and
Sarah Murdoch Sarah Murdoch () is a British-Australian model, actress, television presenter and philanthropist. Career Born in England and Raised in Sydney, Australia, Murdoch studied at Strathfield's The McDonald College of the Performing Arts, where she st ...
with the
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...
, hailing her as Australia's own
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
.


Biography

When Barter was 22, she was detected to have the BRCA1 gene, a gene that significantly increases the chance of getting breast or ovarian cancer. Because Barter's great grandmother, grandmother and mother all had breast cancer, she realized that there was a high likelihood that she would as well. At the time, she did not have any symptoms of the cancer but ovarian cancer had killed 903 Australians in 2011 and she did not want to be one of these people. Barter decided to have a preventative double mastectomy to remove both breasts and prevent getting this type of cancer. In 2009, Barter had her preventative double mastectomy when she was 25 years old. She was married with two young sons at the time and made the decision after wanting to be in their lives for many years to come. She was one of the first Australians to share her journey with the public to raise awareness that prevention is an option. Barter founded not for profit organisation, Pink Hope, from her hospital bed after her surgery. She wanted the struggles her family had gone through to help change and inform other people with hereditary cancer. Barter found Pink Hope to provide support and information to them because when she found out about her BRCA1 gene, and was considering a preventative mastectomy, she had no one to turn to for advice. "''I was alone and isolated, there was nobody my age who making the choices''," Barter said. In regards to Pink Hope's mission she has also said: ''“Having experienced the isolation and lack of information for high risk women like me, I decided to be proactive about helping others which lead to me creating Pink Hope. I have made it my personal mission to provide'' ''information, resources and support for the high risk community”.'' Later, in 2014, Barter also had her
fallopian tube The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (: salpinx), are paired tubular sex organs in the human female body that stretch from the Ovary, ovaries to the uterus. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproduct ...
s and ovaries removed to dramatically reduce her risk for
ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different ...
. In 2014, Barter met Angelina Jolie when Jolie visited Sydney for the premiere of her film ''
Unbroken Unbroken may refer to: Books and film * ''Unbroken'' (book), a 2010 nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand about World War II hero Louis Zamperini * ''Unbroken'' (film), a 2014 film based on the Hillenbrand book * '' Unbroken: Path to Redemption' ...
''. Both Barter and Jolie are both carriers of a genetic mutation called BRCA. Barter is a wife, and mother of three. Her grandmother died after fighting recurring cancers for many years. She had a double mastectomy when she was 25 years old because her family had a history of cancer and she wanted to be sure she didn't develop it as well.


Awards

*Madison Magazine Inspirational Woman 2012 *Finalist Instyle Audi Women of Style Awards *Women of Influence
Harpers Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
2011 *Warringah Young Citizen of the Year 2010


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barter, Krystal Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women activists Australian women non-fiction writers Writers from Sydney People from the Northern Beaches