ICONS OF HOPE: Wig Tysmans

WIG TYSMANS
Photographer

“I thought I was having a heart attack.”

I was in Europe with my wife and daughter in February 2025 when I felt a needle-sharp pain on my right breast. It happened suddenly, and the sensation was radiating towards the center of my chest. The pain subsided the following day but I noticed that my right nipple had retracted. I made a mental note to proceed with a breast ultrasound recommended to me by my doctors just six months before.

You see, it wasn’t the first time I felt some kind of pain in the breast — I felt it last year, too but, when I had it checked, they couldn’t feel anything. And because the pain wasn’t always there anyway, we didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about.

Besides, I had already been taking steps to manage my prostate cancer. I had surgery in November 2024 to have my prostates removed. Thankfully, recovery was fast and there were no signs that the cancer had spread. Little did I know that six months later, I would be dealing with a second cancer, this time of the breast.

When I finally got to do the breast ultrasound, we found out that there was a 1.8cm mass under the nipple. By March 2025, I had a mastectomy.

I can’t say I was shocked about having cancer because I have a history of it in my family — my mom had lung cancer. Twenty years later, she was diagnosed with lymphoma, from which she eventually died. But, what can I say, I had good doctors, a very supportive family and group of friends who helped me deal with all this with love and humor.

Breast cancer awareness is an advocacy that is close to my heart. I had done a number of photo shoots for the Cancer Resource and Wellness Community (Carewell) with some of my friends in the industry. We would document breast cancer survivors (cancer warriors, really), portraying them in their best light, showing others that, even with these challenges, there can be hope and healing.

In photo (clockwise from left): Wig Tysmans with Romy Vitug(+), At Maculangan(+), Cocoy Sarmenta, and Tonette Jacinto in 2008 — the team that took portraits of cancer survivors for Carewell that year.

#ICSat25
#SurvivorStories
#WorldCancerDay
#UnitedByUnique

Photos by: Patrick Uy and Wig Tysmans

Icons of Hope is a social media campaign that features cancer survivors who share their own stories, learnings and the lives they now live. It is part of ICANSERVE Foundation’s 25th anniversary celebration in collaboration with Camera Club of the Philippines. With thanks to Owen Santos and Zonia Bandoy.