Just one day after the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre announced that it needed $250,000 to pay back money spent to bring two digital scanning systems to the Island, a generous donation nearly halved the debt.

Peter Green learned of the new screening machines after his sons read an article in The Royal Gazette online earlier this month, and decided to donate $100,000 to the charity. "They looked into it and said we should support this," said Mr. Green.

Yesterday, the charity made the donation public. Mr. Green's wife, Mary-Jean, died after a battle with breast cancer in 1990, a year after she had been diagnosed. Their sons, Andrew and Alexander, were six and nine when she died.

Since her death, Mr. Green has spent much of the last two decades supporting the fight against breast cancer, committing time and money to Breakthrough, a UK-based charity dedicated to researching the cancer. Yesterday, Mr. Green was welcomed into the Bermuda Cancer and Health Centre building on Point Finger Road and was given a tour of the facility, including the screening machines which he helped fund.

"I am absolutely amazed," Mr. Green said. "What a beautiful facility."

The centre, whose construction was funded entirely by donations, is one of only a handful of facilities on the Island which offer breast cancer screening. "Women over 40 should be receiving annual screenings," said executive director Tara Soares. "We use the new digital scanners for every screening."

Screenings should also occur if anything unusual is discovered during self-examinations, and screenings should occur earlier if cancer runs in the patient's family. "The important thing is early screening," said Mr. Green. "(Mary-Jean's) mother was diagnosed the same year. Unfortunately, (my wife) was too young, she was pre-menopausal, and it was aggressive.

"You cannot imagine the trauma. It's important that (patients) have the right facilities and the right environment to treat it."

The digital scanners allow images to be produced almost instantly, allowing patients to have accurate results more quickly. It also reduces the possibilities of error, and allows technicians to manipulate the image to better detect abnormalities. In addition to his work with Breakthrough, Mr. Green also funds the Green Family Scholarship, which this year hopes to help put 40 Bermudian students through higher education.