Welcome to my fundraising page for CoppaFeel!

This November I will embark on a 5 day, 100 kilometer trek in the Sahara Desert, in a bid to raise funds towards CoppaFeel! who are on a mission to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their breasts, pecs and chests! Why am I doing this?

Through the journey of breast cancer, this is the part of the story you never want to write. But it won’t be the end. Because this opportunity with CoppaFeel! is a next chapter and one that will live on and leave a legacy for my beloved sister Victoria who is currently in hospice care facing the final steps on her journey with metastatic breast cancer, aged 40.

Victoria, or ‘Toya’ to me, was my first friend and has remained so for all of our years together. She will not be just another breast cancer statistic, so before I tell you about my goal, let me tell you about her…

Toya has big bright eyes, a beaming smile and a caring heart. Across the many places she has lived and worked she has accumulated friends and left a lasting impression on those whose lives she has touched. Given her role, this influence reaches into the hundreds, if not thousands.

You see, beyond being a loving daughter, sister, friend, granddaughter, fiancée, aunt and step-mum, she will tell you that one of the most powerful parts of her identity is in being a nurse. As an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, over her career she has worked across intensive care, A&E, general practice, COVID vaccine clinics and beyond, covering departments in many UK cities and in New Zealand, a place she called home for a number of years and loves dearly.

She has dedicated her life to caring for people in their darkest moments even while secretly battling through hers.

Toya has a free spirit; she likes to explore, travel with her fiancée, hike and climb. She lives her life in technicolor and is loud with her love and pride for those closest to her. She loves to laugh and with me, we always, always do.

She wanted more and she should be getting it. But devastatingly in 2018 her, and our hopes for her colorful future changed when she received a breast cancer diagnosis. After initial treatment, it returned in 2021 and again in 2023, she’s now among the many, many people who will lose their life to metastatic breast cancer. And I become one of the many, many people who will live with the loss from this disease.

With no family history and no genetic link, her early concerns were dismissed for too long, worsening her prognosis. But as a medical professional, she knows that awareness, education, advocacy and empowerment are key for discovering and treating breast cancer, especially in younger men and women.

That’s why the charity CoppaFeel! and the work (and words) of Kris Hallega were so inspiring to Toya, who would love to do something to support them.

With her encouragement I applied for this trek, and in being chosen by CoppaFeel! for this opportunity, I’m going to make it happen for her. But I need your help.

Your donations will support me in reaching my fundraising target and most importantly help prevent more young women like my sister from dying of breast cancer. Anything big or small is dearly appreciated by us all.

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

Emma & Victoria Kirk.

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