I will never forget when June 11th 2020 changed everything.  Up until then, we had everything we could hope for, we were the usual happy family. Until, my whole life was thrown upside down by the news of a cancer diagnosis for my mum.  I had seen people with cancer before, but it never crossed my mind that it could happen to someone so close to me.

When people think about breast cancer, they never seem to understand the effects it can have on that person and the people around them. The mastectomy alone was difficult to process, meaning the outcome of all the treatment would have an astronomical effect on us all. However, the one it would hit hardest was mum. Before this point she was a healthy 46 year old woman with friends that could make her laugh and 3 children she loves dearly.  

At the moment, there is no definitive cure , leaving my mum in a situation that resembles her worst nightmare. As well as this weighing heavily on her shoulders, she had to deal with three children confined to the house due to lockdown in a terrible pandemic! This also meant that she was prevented in accessing the vital support needed. Yet, she still supported and cared for us despite her pain and worries.

On the 6th of July she had to walk herself down a hospital corridor to an operating theatre to have her mastectomy - on her own! This would be enough to break even the strongest of people - not my mum though. She was a mum first and a cancer patient second. We will be forever grateful to her for still putting us first, even though we wanted her to be number one.

Today, she still has the relentless effects of chemotherapy to contend with. She still has to hide from the pandemic that makes her even more vulnerable than she already is.  During this year alone, 55,000 other women in the UK were going through the same thing, some not reaching this point. With no real cure, doctors must race to find other ways to treat people with breast cancer.  

We want to make a stand against breast cancer, by sponsoring our gaming team, you can help raise money for against breast cancer, which is working with expert scientists to find ways to diagnose earlier, and stop breast cancer recurring and spreading.  They are trying to increase survival rates, and stop women and men having to go through what my mum is. 

To raise money for our cause, we will be having a 24 hour gaming session, on the 20th December 4pm until the 21st of December 4pm, sponsor us today, and help prevent women and men alike having to experience what my mum and so many others have.