UHP rallies around fellow trooper with cancer


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SALT LAKE CITY — If a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper pulls you over during the next couple of months, you may notice something out of place on the uniform, which is very unusual.

"The uniform is pretty strict," said Trooper Travis Williams.

Over 400 state troopers are all wearing pink ribbons above their name plates until the end of the year in support of fellow trooper, 39-year-old Bonnie Kunz, a mother of six who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Kunz knows that any alteration to the official brown uniform is practically unheard of.

"I was in shock," Kunz said.

"I wanted to know how I could help," Williams said, voicing the feelings of so many of his co-workers, especially the 15 who work with Kunz in the squad at Salt Lake Community College.

Kunz said she is humbled by the support of her colleagues.

"It has really built a bond with all the guys I didn't have before," Kunz said on a visit to the SLCC campus today.

In addition to showing their support and solidarity through wearing pink ribbons, Kunz's co-workers held a successful 5K fundraiser last month.

"Anything like that can happen to us at any time, and we would like (support) in return," Williams said.

Fellow troopers said Kunz never stops smiling. Her positive attitude has been critical since she discovered a lump in her breast last winter and had a mastectomy in July. She is currently getting treatment at the Intermountain Medical Center Breast Care Center in Murray.

"If you think something is off, something probably is off. Get it checked out," Kunz said.

Her doctors said it's uncommon to develop breast cancer under 40.


"The amount of support I've gotten from them has been tremendous — huge. I can't believe it, I truly can't." Bonnie Kunz

"I could have been dead if I went in at the age of 40," she said. "I'm just grateful I found it."

Dr. Brett Parkinson, medical director of the Intermountain Medical Center Breast Care Center, said Kunz was fortunate to feel the lump early.

"What's so unique about Bonnie is the age at which she developed breast cancer," Dr. Parkinson said. "She's only 39, and it's quite uncommon to develop it under 40. However upon feeling a lump, she took the necessary steps by getting the right tests performed. We were able to find the problem and give her a diagnosis. And her treatment and recovery are going really well."

That quick action likely saved Kunz's life, he said.

Unfortunately, many Utah women may be confused about when to get a screening mammogram.

In 2009, the United States Services Preventative Task Force recommended women shouldn't have regular screenings between the ages of 40 and 49. But new research shows that women benefit from beginning screening at age 40.

A recent study published by Harvard researchers and current research from the Intermountain Medical Center Breast Care Center, both show the increasing importance and value of getting the screenings starting at the age of 40.

UHP Troopers Travis Williams and Bonnie Kunz
UHP Troopers Travis Williams and Bonnie Kunz (Photo: Mike DeBernardo)

The Harvard study looked at 7,300 women, 609 of which died of breast cancer. 71 percent of those who died had not had regular screening, and 50 percent of those were under the age of 50.

"Bonnie's case really underscores the need for women to be vigilant in doing monthly self-exams and having a screening mammogram once they turn 40," Dr. Parkinson said.

Kunz and her husband have six kids at home, including a 22-month-old girl, so she said the strengthening bond with her work family has meant a lot to her.

"The amount of support I've gotten from them has been tremendous — huge. I can't believe it, I truly can't," she said.

The cancer has been removed for now, and her last treatment is about a month away. Kunz hopes to get back in the patrol car and back on her bike around campus sometime early next year.

"I want to come back," she said. "It's definitely a motivator to get healthy and get coming back."

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Jed Boal

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