HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaii’s first ever rage room is giving cancer patients a space to smash out cancer, just in time for breast cancer awareness month — which is October.
A “rage room” is a place where people can go to and break stuff.
“People are angry. People are frustrated, but also people just want to have a good time and do something different,” said co-founder of Break’N Anger, Cody Jarrett.
However, the owners of Break’N Anger in Honolulu want to do more for the community than to just provide a fun activity for people. So, the business is offering free sessions to those battling cancer through its ‘Smash Cancer’ program.
Clare Hanusz recently got to experience a rage room for herself. Hanusz, of Hawaii Kai, was diagnosed with breast cancer during Christmas 2020.
“I smashed the wine glass to represent the alcohol that I’m not supposed to have. It felt really, really good.”
Clare Hanusz said during her ‘Smash Cancer’ session
Hanusz said the relief she felt at Break’N Anger was much needed, especially after the past year. The attorney and mother of two has been through five months of chemotherapy, a blood transfusion, a double mastectomy and now she is going through radiation.
“I lost about 25 pounds… Food just tasted bad,” Hanusz said about what it was like going through chemotherapy. “Even worse than the hair on my head was loosing every eyelash and all of my eyebrows. Because you look sick. It looks like something is wrong with you.”
One of the owners of Break’N Anger said she understands exactly what Clare Hanusz is going through because she endured the same experience not long ago.
Carolina Palotti, one of the co-founders of Break’N Anger, spent the summer of 2021 battling a blood cancer.
“It was four months of chemotherapy, and thankfully my body responded really well and right now I’m in full remission,” Palotti said.
As a result of Palotti’s journey with cancer, the owners of Break’N Anger wanted to provide a free space for those currently in the fight to give cancer the punch it deserves.
“I cannot fix the problem, but I can give them a little space to have fun,” Palotti said about how their ‘Smash Cancer’ program came to be.
Rage room participants are encouraged to write on objects of what they want to smash out of their lives. Hanusz wrote “I hate cancer” and “chemo” on several tiles.
“I’m angry that it is a disease that has changed my life, that has changed my mom’s life,” Hanusz said.
Despite her anger toward cancer, Clare Hanusz continues to push through, and she has a message for others going through the same thing:
“If you have to lose a body part — like I lost both of my breasts — you are more than that body part, and you can face the world strong and proud.”
Clare Hanusz
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To book a rage room at Break’N Anger in Honolulu, click here.
