It's one thing to 'talk the talk' when you are trying to get some to do something, it's quite another thing to 'walk the walk.'

In tonight's Buddy Check Report we bring you the story of a healthcare worker who has a lot in common with her patients because she is one.

Jessica Scharp knows more about mammograms than most as a radiology tech at West Shore Medical Center in Manistee. But last year the tables turned.

She says, "I was diagnosed in June 2010. I found the lump myself. There was a little bit of denial because of my age being 35 I didn't think it could happen to me but something in my body was telling me something was not right. My gut feeling was telling me something was wrong."

Scharp's doctor confirmed her fears. She had stage three breast cancer. To beat the disease she had a double mastectomy, 16 weeks of chemotherapy and 30 radiation treatments.

Those treatments not only helped save her life, but also changed it.

She says, "When I had my chemo I had such excellent care at the cancer facility that from the first I walked in there I knew I wanted to do something to give back. I wanted to do something somehow to raise some money to give it to that foundation."

But since most walkers hit the treadmill in the winter, she knew she'd have to come up with something other than a traditional fundraising walk. The answer was a gift that kept giving.

Scharp says," my husband bought me a pair of snowshoes for Christmas and I was kind of sitting there thinking about snowshoeing one day and the little light bulb went off in my head and I thought a snowshoe event would be an excellent way to get people together and get them active and maybe do some fundraising to raise money for cancer patients."

In it's first year the Snowshoe Stampede had a lot of community support and raised more than $8,000. "It felt good to give back. The Sally K. Johnson Foundation likes to make cancer patients lives a little easier if there's something they can do to make it a little easier they will step in and help out."

Scharp says the best advice she can give both as a specialist and a survivor is to know your self. "I try to encourage them to get familiar with their breasts. do the self breast exams when something different does occur they will be able to find it. They will notice that it's different because that's what happened to me."

Now Jessica and a friend are training for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk. And we are proud to say so is a previous Buddy Checker, Jennie Minard.

If you don't know about these walks, they are a big deal and raise a lot of money to help in breast cancer research and education. The participants walk 60 miles over three days all while working to make a difference! We are so proud of both you! If you'd like to help them in their sizable fundraising goals here are links to their walk pages.  Click here to help Jessica. Click here to help Jennie. While you're here, I want to hear about your story. Have you been affected by breast cancer? How have you fought back? Share your story.