When Debby Shaw was diagnosed with Breast Cancer at the age of 33 in December 2001, her family was concerned, but not panicked. Medicine had come a long way and cancer was no longer the instant “death sentence” it had once been. The diagnosis had come early so chemotherapy and radiation were quickly ordered and the prognosis was encouraging.

While Debby was undergoing her treatment in early 2002, her husband, Danny (pegasusphototx), participated in his first Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer: a 60-mile, 3 day walk to raise funds for Breast Cancer research and treatment. With Debby too ill to join him, Danny walked alone that year, fully believing his wife of 16 years would be joining him next time as a survivor.

Much to the family’s shock, Debby’s cancer quickly became far too aggressive for treatments to eradicate it. Within a year, on August 12, 2002, Debby lost her battle and succumbed to the disease.

In 2004, despite his grief, or perhaps because of it, Danny again walked, this time in Chicago with his sister, Patty by his side. It was a difficult and emotional 3-Days, which Patty was unable to finish, but Danny was determined to endure so that no one else would ever again have to experience this kind of loss again.

The 3-Day is now a tradition in which Danny hopes to participate every-other year. Unfortunately his third attempt landed his fundraising attempts short of the $2,200 required to participate, so Danny was forced to sit out the actual Walk. The funds were still contributed to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, but it continues to be his goal to walk beside the thousands of others who have so successfully brought awareness and support for this still-deadly disease.

In 2008, Danny is again in the process of raising the funds required to allow him to participate in the 3-Day Walk being held in Dallas, Texas in November. This time, he is joining forces with Tim Brown (tdbrown75), his friend and fellow Mustang enthusiast.

Tim was Danny’s boss for a period of time after a merger brought together their two companies. When he learned the Texas division would be sold off, Tim began seeking employment elsewhere, but a friendship formed and the two kept in touch, some due to their passion for their 2006 Mustang GTs, but mainly due to a friendship that had formed.

Danny’s first Mustang was a 1978 Mustang II Hatchback. It was white with a red interior. He later had a 1966 Coupe, red with red interior. At the time, Debby had a Maroon 1968 Mustang Coupe with maroon interior. Danny later traded the 1966 Coupe for a 1965 fastback, white with red interior. That was his last Mustang for a while until the new S197 body style.

After seeing it in a television ad, Danny knew he would someday have one. He was looking at cars on the lot when a 2006 GT came into his sights. Remembering the very first Mustang he had fallen in love with--a neighbor's 1965 Fastback, black with red interior—he knew the black 2006 GT with red interior he was looking at now had to be his. Since then he has spent countless hours modifying it to have the look and feel of that 1965 he loved so much.


Impressed with his friend’s new car, Tim soon realized that his days as a lifetime GM owner were coming to an end, and 3 months after Danny had purchased his 2006 Mustang GT, Tim purchased his very first Ford, a 2006 Silver Satin Mustang GT. Both men worked on customizing their cars and began exhibiting them in car shows together.

It was during one of these shows that Danny approached Tim for a contribution to his fundraising for the 3-Day. As it happened, Tim’s wife had done a couple of 3-Day Walks in the past, so instead of simply turning in a donation, he decided to join his friend and walk along with him as a teammate. They came up with a team name, “Mustang for Mammaries,” created a logo and t-shirts, and have attended several car shows this year hoping to gather donations.

With Danny working on getting his house ready for sale and then moving, as well as facing a job change in the near future, the two have not had as much opportunity to raise donations as hoped. There are a few months left, so they are kicking their efforts into high gear determined to wear their t-shirts and carry their banners across the finish line as Teammates for a Cure.

Both Tim and Danny firmly believe that they will never sell their 2006 Mustangs. Some day, they hope their children will drive them, remembering all the days their dads spent with their 'girls” and the hope that endured because of them.

To donate online please go to: http://www.the3day.org/goto/MustangsForMammaries


Thanks from the 3 of us,
Andy, Allie, and Me