Life
This PSA Encourages You to Touch Yourself
When The Divinyls lead singer Chrissy Amphlett was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 2013, she knew she wanted to spread a message of awareness to females everywhere in her own way. Her idea? To repurpose her 1990 song “I Touch Myself” into a reminder for women to regularly check their own bodies for cancer.
Amphlett, who died in April of last year, discovered her own breast cancer through self-examination, after a mammogram and ultrasound both failed to find it. Before she passed away, she told friends of her wish. Now, the Australian advocacy group, Cancer Council New South Wales, has finally made it come true.
In an incredibly moving PSA that doubles as an homage to Amphlett, a group of a Australian singers, including breast cancer survivor Olivia Newtown John, sing a lovely a cappella rendition of “I Touch Myself” — a song that was originally known as a revolutionary celebration of female sexuality.
“Like Chrissy, it is bold, brave and brassy," the group says in its video summary. "It rocked our world. And when Chrissy developed breast cancer, it was a song she wanted to become an anthem for spreading awareness about the importance of touching ourselves for early detection of the disease."
The end result is one of the most poignant PSA’s I’ve ever seen and serves as an important reminder to everyone of both the importance of staying in touch with yourself physically and of the power we all have in our hands.
Watch it below and learn more about the campaign here. Warning: the final shot may NSFW…but don’t let that stop you from watching it!
