Andrew Dean’s #PinkManFlight, an event with support from Delta Air Lines, raised over $26,000 in its 10th year
Costumes have always been a part of Andrew Dean’s life. “They’ve allowed me to be myself and have acted as icebreakers to share my story with the world,” he says.
So, after brainstorming ways to help bring attention to breast cancer research, he started wearing a pink spandex suit to local fundraisers in 2012. Because the suit covered his face, people who didn’t know him referred to him as “the pink man.” After accidentally boarding a plane with the suit on a few years later, the #PinkManFlight was born.
After one fundraising event in 2015, Andrew didn’t have time to change before boarding a plane. The person next to him “did not feel the most comfortable” about his outfit, Andrew recalls. To break the ice, he explained his cause, and realized that the attention the Pink Man outfit received on the ground could travel even further than he thought.
In October 2017, he decided to book a series of flights around the country with the goal of assisting flight attendants and encouraging donations along the way. Immediately after doing the first flight on his own, he received a phone call from longtime BCRF corporate partner Delta Air Lines offering their wholehearted support. “That first year is where things kicked off,” he says. He began sharing his story with passengers and walking up and down the aisles to help flight attendants collect donations. Since then, it’s been an official event.
Every October, Andrew suits up and flies cross country in his signature look, working alongside Delta to raise funds for breast cancer research. Over the course of 20 to 48 hours, he boards a series of flights and walks gate-to-gate encouraging passengers to support breast cancer research by donating. He also posts updates on his journey on social media, enabling others on the ground to participate. Over the past 10 years, he’s traveled thousands of miles and raised over $120,000.
Andrew’s commitment to breast cancer research is dedicated to his mother, Jayne, who was diagnosed with stage 3 invasive ductal carcinoma, estrogen- and progesterone-receptor positive, HER2-positive breast cancer in 2006. It was a shock to her and her family, who, at that point, did not know anyone who had undergone treatment for breast cancer. Soon after her diagnosis, she underwent a mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
In spite of the fear and uncertainty, Jayne’s focus was always on how she could help others, and became an advocate for research even while in her initial stages of treatment. “Immediately” after attending her first fundraiser, Andrew shares, “she decided, ‘hey, I want to build a team, and I want to start fundraising for other people.’” Every October after her diagnosis, she fundraised.
“She was an amazing human,” says Andrew. “She was a person [who] loved giving back.”
Inspired by his mother and the support they’d received from the community, he decided he wanted to do something to up the ante and attract more attention to their cause.
Thus, the faceless pink spandex suit became a fixture on fundraising walks. The approach worked: almost instantly, he began to receive news coverage, and people frequently approached him to hear his mother’s story. The curiosity and conversation it sparked helped raise awareness—and donations.
Each year, Andrew keeps the dates and locations of his flight a secret, and passengers only have the duration of their flight to donate. He keeps the event a surprise and the fundraisers short, to encourage people to be in the moment and only donate what they’re comfortable with. It makes the money raised all the more meaningful. “It shows the goodness of people, the willingness to get involved in a good cause, at a moment’s notice,” he says.
In 2022, after 15 years in remission, Jayne was diagnosed with stage 4, or metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer. As soon as she started treatment, she and Andrew started noticing the vast improvements that had been made in the past decade and a half since her initial diagnosis. “She wasn’t getting as sick from the treatments as she was before,” Andrew says. “The different kinds of chemotherapies seemed to be a little bit easier on the body, and there just seemed to be a lot more options.”
Andrew pointed to newer treatments that BCRF investigators helped bring to fruition, including the antibody drug conjugate Trodelvy, that helped manage the spread of her cancer. Xeloda, a medication that wasn’t available to her in 2006, allowed her to dance with her son Michael at his wedding in 2023. He was able to personally witness, in real time, the meaningful differences made by advances in research.
This made his mother all the more passionate about funding breast cancer research. Even while undergoing treatment, she was clear with Andrew: “I want you to continue doing this because now we’re seeing the impact that this is making through me.”
Jayne passed away at the beginning of 2024. Though he’d suffered a significant loss, Andrew knew that his work wasn’t done. And his fellow passengers agreed: Donations increased from $5,500 in year one to over $26,000 over the course of 48 hours in 2026.
Andrew looks forward to soaring even further in his mother’s honor. “Doing this every year is an absolute privilege. This is one thing that my mom and I started doing together,” he says, “and when I’m at these fundraisers, it’s the time that I feel the closest to her—and that’s a very special thing, because she isn’t here.”
If there’s one thing Andrew wants someone to take from his family’s story, it’s that each person has the power to make a real difference by embracing their passions. “I want people to understand that they can make a difference,” he says. “No one else needs to wear a pink spandex onesie, but anybody can start their own fundraiser. Anybody can go out there and inspire others to get involved.”
Click here to donate to Andrew’s 2026 fundraiser. Looking to start your own to help fuel the research that will lead to tomorrow’s cures? Click here to learn more.
