Thanks to this fantastic charity I was prompted to check my boobs, but unfortunately for me on the second month of checking, I found a lump! I was quite happy to put my head in the sand, but my husband made me a doctors appointment and I entered a phase of my life that I wasn’t sure I was going to survive either mentally or physically. The waiting, scanning, tears, being unable to breathe and having to tell our children was some of the most harrowing moments of my life.

Over the last 4 years I’ve had two surgeries, 6 months of fortnightly chemo (mostly alone thanks to Covid), daily radiotherapy, then 2 years of medication that basically shrunk my life to surviving, as well as numerous unexpected A&E trips and hospital stays. I’m so thankful to the medical staff and the science, as well as the holistic help, the charities who have held us when we couldn’t stand alone and the wonderful friends and family who will never be forgotten. This has not been an easy few years though and the knock on effect is hard. The meds over this period and the ones I’m now on, have aged me considerably and I creak like a 90 year old but I’m here and I’m very grateful.

I’m one of the very fortunate people that get to go back to work, and try to carve out some form of normality. However, I’ve lost far too many friends, such beautiful young souls, to this awful disease and when this challenge popped into my inbox I knew I had to apply, in memory of them and for this wonderful charity, whilst also pushing myself back to wellness.

This September I will set out on what will be a very challenging, extraordinary and life-changing trek, over 5 days, across the Great Wall of China, in a bid to raise funds towards CoppaFeel's life-saving mission.

It’s a pretty steep fundraising target but they are on a mission to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their boobs, pecs and chests and getting to know their bodies in order to have the confidence to see their GP if something just doesn't feel normal.

If you’re able to donate, big or small, it will genuinely make a difference and help ensure more people catch this disease early.

Thanks so much for your donation & support. To find out more about CoppaFeel! head to www.coppafeel.org.