It was a sea of pink along the Coney Island boardwalk in Brooklyn Sunday, made up of breast cancer survivors and their supporters who play a big role in the fight against the disease.

Tanya Carter was wearing a pink vest and shirt in honor of breast cancer awareness. She met up with her doctor, Michael Zeidman, on the boardwalk Sunday.

“I’m two years cancer free! Two years cancer free,” Carter said.

A victory she and her doctor were celebrating along with 10,000 others during the 20th annual Making Strides Against Cancer walk in Brooklyn.

“So one of the things I noticed about Tanya and her family is that she, out of any patient I can remember, had the biggest amount of support,” said Dr. Michael Zeidman, a breast surgical oncologist with Mount Sinai Brooklyn. “We actually didn’t have our meeting in our in our typical exam room because she had so many family members with her. We had to use the conference room.”

Dr. Zeidman told NY1 about the importance of having support in the fight against the disease. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the U.S.

“I always find that patients that have that big support system always do better. And Tanya is proof of that. She has flown through this process,” Zeidman said.

“I thank God for my family each and every day,” said Carter.

In 2023, more than 18,000 women in New York will be diagnosed with breast cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, there are more than 4,000,000 survivors in the country. Organizers said the fundraising done during Making Strides Against Cancer walks is vital.

“The funds that are being raised here are going to make a difference here in Coney Island with the services,” said Austin Desavino, director of development with American Cancer Society. “So we have Hope Lodge where you can stay for free as long as you need to. When you’re traveling for treatment you can get free wigs, you can get rides to treatment, but there’s research that’s making breakthroughs that we won’t even see we’re seein, but we’ll see in the future.”

As Carter and Dr. Zeidman walked together, their goal was to raise awareness.

“Definitely, number one, get a mammogram. That’s a must,” said Carter.

“This is a disease where you’re not going to have any symptoms and it’s much better to catch this early because the amount of treatment you need is much less. If we catch it at an earlier stage, your prognosis is going to be better,” Zeidman said.

According to the American Cancer Society, the death rate from breast cancer dropped 42% from 1989 to 2019. The drop was due to earlier detection and increased awareness.