Save Your Skin Foundation didn’t begin with a strategy or a vision statement. To Rosemary Westie, it started with family. 

​

When her sister Kathy was diagnosed with melanoma, there were few treatment options, little information, and no clear path forward. Each appointment brought uncertainty, and every setback carried a quiet, relentless fear that settled into everyday life.

​

“It’s not a one-day or one-year thing.  A lot of families may feel as if there's a cloud that follows them when a loved one is facing cancer."

​

Cancer didn’t just change Kathy’s life. It changed the rhythm of their entire family, shaping conversations, decisions, and the way they measured time. Like so many families facing a life-threatening diagnosis, they learned to live inside the unknown while doing everything they could to support one another.

​

In those early days, there was no intention to start a foundation. Rose, a trail runner in North Vancouver, began talking openly within her running community about what her sister was going through. Rose reached out to a local race organizer named Heather MacDonald, to ask about starting a new race, or if we could do some fund raising around her current races.  Rose and Kath met Heather at a local pub near their home.  She listened to Kath's story, she cared and she wanted to help.

​

She said she would like to bring awareness and raise some funds to support Kath and her melanoma journey.  She asked a couple of simple questions required to raise funds: "What is your Foundation called?"  They didn't have a foundation. She asked "How about your website?". They didn't have a website. Heather pointed out that there needed to be a Foundation in place in order to ask folks to donate money. 

​

Rose remembers walking home with Kathy from that meeting, both feeling so discouraged.  Kath was super weak from her treatments, and Rose was feeling useless. The idea of starting a Foundation was simply too much.

​

That night, feeling overwhelmed by how quickly everything was unravelling, Rose went to check and see how Kathy was feeling. Despite her own uncertain future, Kathy was already online, securing a domain name. Save Your Skin Foundation was born, not from a plan, but from a moment of resolve and a will to help people. 

​

What followed grew naturally. Small fundraisers led to larger ones. Trail races became opportunities to raise awareness. Rose and her friends ran thousands of kilometres wearing their Save Your Skin jerseys, carrying the message across Canada and beyond. Along the way, encounters with patients and families, especially those navigating illness far from home, reinforced why this work mattered.

​

Through it all, family remained at the centre. Rose attended every appointment with Kathy, asking questions, advocating, and holding space when hope felt fragile. She believes that presence made a difference. Today, she sees that same advocacy reflected in Kathy’s work in supporting patients and families. 

​

Twenty years later, Save Your Skin has grown into a nationally respected, patient-led organization. But at its heart, it remains rooted in where it began:, a family, and a determination to make sure no one faces melanoma alone.