Jason LaVeris/WireImageWhen Angelina Jolie revealed that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy, the mother of six said she hoped her odyssey would inspire other women to get tested for a gene that increases the risk of breast cancer.
She achieved just that: On Tuesday, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards took to Twitter to announce that she, too, will be undergoing her own test next week.
The news comes a week after the Richards revealed to her Twitter followers that her family has a history of breast cancer.
"I lost my Mom to Breast cancer & am embarrassed to admit that I've been too scared to get tested," the 44-year-old wrote on May 14, a day after news of Jolie's surgery news went public. "I feel differently today #AngelinaJolie."
She's now transformed that fear into action: A week later, after a fan encouraged her to get herself tested, Richards responded, "being tested next week."
In her honest, unflinching op-ed in The New York Times, Jolie said that inspiring other women to safeguard their health served as the driving force to tell her story.
"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer," the actress wrote.
"It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options."