Though they’ve had their lives torn apart by breast cancer, these inspirational women are fighting fit to help prevent the disease in future.
Modelling sportswear, the seven women are hoping to raise awareness that doing 30 minutes of exercise a day cuts the risk of developing breast cancer by 20 per cent.
Each tells her own tale of how the disease has affected her life to mark the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.
The sportswear range is designed by MS to promote the social media campaign #letsgetmoving.
They have said 10 per cent of which will go to the charity Breast Cancer Now during October.
Seven women are hoping to raise awareness that doing 30 minutes of exercise a day cuts the risk of developing breast cancer by 20 per cent
Eluned Hughes of Breast Cancer Now said: ‘We want women to know how important it is to get active. Studies show that just 30 minutes of activity per day can help reduce your risk of getting breast cancer by at least 20 per cent.
‘This can be something as simple as walking to work, gardening or taking the family out for a bike ride. Any activity that makes you warmer, breathe harder and makes your heart beat faster counts.’
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Former Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hardy teamed up with the campaign to create a simple dance routine which can reduce the risk of breast cancer.
She hosted a free, one-off fitness class in Hyde Park yesterday which would count to the recommended daily activity.
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hardy teamed up with the campaign to create a simple dance routine which can reduce the risk of breast cancer
Ms Hardy said: ‘Dancing and going to the gym are obvious ways of keeping fit, however there are so many activities that can get your heart rate up – many of which you’re probably already doing on a weekly basis.
‘Even simple chores like vacuuming the house or doing the gardening can make a difference.
‘I was definitely surprised that being active can have that much of an impact on the risk of getting breast cancer and what is great is that by being more conscious in what you do daily you’ll be able to see just how easy it is to hit the 30 minute target.’
Here, the seven women tell their touching stories and explain what fitness means to them.
TERMINALLY ILL BUT LIVING LIFE TO THE FULL
Mandie Stevenson, 27, is terminally ill with breast cancer but hasn’t let it stop her enjoying life
Mandie Stevenson, 27, is terminally ill with breast cancer but hasn’t let it stop her enjoying life.
‘I was young and healthy so I was chilled out when I found the lump,’ she said.
‘When I found out a week later that it was terminal, I was in shock. It didn’t feel like it was happening to me.’
But the customer services worker from Falkirk, Scotland, is determined to live life to the full and has planned a trip to Australia and has bought herself a pug dog and a Mini Cooper.
‘I now have five years to pack in 30 or 40 years of experiences. I’m staying positive and keeping going and making lots of memories.’
Despite her diagnosis, Miss Stevenson has carried on working, determined to keep her normal life for as long as possible.
THE PREGNANT WIFE WHO CARRIES THE BRCA1 GENE
Fiona Coaton, 30, is desperately hoping she doesn’t pass the gene on to her unborn child
Pregnant Fiona Coaton, 30, is desperately hoping she doesn’t pass the deadly gene on to her child.
The insurance advisor, from Spalding, Lincolnshire, had a full mastectomy at the age of 27 to reduce the risk of getting cancer.
The BRCA1 gene, also carried by actor Angelina Jolie, has already claimed the life of her auntie.
A fitness fanatic, Mrs Coaton hopes that staying healthy will reduce the risk of her getting cancer in the future.
‘I’m 18 weeks pregnant and me and my husband will educate our child about the gene when it’s older,’ she said.
Until then, the Corporal’s wife tries to inspire others to get exercise and eat well to prevent cancer.
There is a 50 per cent chance her child will carry the gene.
Although she cannot breastfeed him or her, she said she is thrilled to be pregnant.
‘Hopefully all the money raised will help my child in 20 years’ time,’ she added.
THE BUSINESS COACH WHO WON HER BATTLE
Lindsay Partridge, 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. Her sole focus was getting through her treatment
As a high-flying businesswoman, Lindsay Partridge, 52, is used to a challenge.
So when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013, her sole focus became getting through her treatment.
The mother-of-three, from Wokingham, Berkshire, was the first in the queue at the doctor’s surgery after finding a lump in her breast.
Although her cancer was aggressive, she detected it early and is now cancer-free.
‘My daughter Kelsey was doing her finals at university when I was diagnosed,’ Mrs Partridge said.
‘I worried more about the effect on her, which in some ways made it easier.’
Having embraced fitness following her diagnosis, she now feels as if she is back to normal.
‘Not many people can say they’re back to being their old selves after cancer, but I feel I can,’ she added.
THE BANKER WHO DIDN’T HAVE A LUMP
Sera Bains, 46, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer last year after one side of her body swelled up
Sera Bains, 46, had no idea she had cancer until one side of her body swelled up last year.
Doctors diagnosed the mother-of-two, from Whetstone, north London, with an aggressive form of breast cancer.
She has now become a fitness fanatic after learning how important exercise is to keeping breast cancer at bay.
‘I started to do Pilates and yoga classes at the hospital while having treatment and got into it,’ she said.
‘It makes you feel better and improves your confidence.’
Despite a gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy regime, she stays positive and is determined to help others by regularly cooking healthy meals for friends and family and planning walks.
FOUND A LUMP AFTER HER FATHER’S FUNERAL
Miranda Ashitey, 34, found a lump in her breast while she was grieving over her father’s death
Recovering from the impact of her father’s death, Miranda Ashitey, 34, found a lump in her breast.
Knowing she had a family history of breast cancer, she went straight to the hospital.
But health and fitness was so important to the data administrator from Croydon that doctors allowed her to take part in the Great North Run, her first half-marathon, before starting chemotherapy.
‘Breast cancer runs in my mum’s family and both of her sisters have had it,’ she said.
‘My diagnosis couldn’t have come at a worse time with my dad’s death and my training for the run.
It’s great that I can make something so negative into a positive in this campaign,’ she added.
Now recovering, she is doing the Great North Run for Breast Cancer Now.
MOTHER WHO LOST HER DAUGHTER TO BREAST CANCER
Amanda Jones, 74, from Surrey, has committed herself to fundraising to prevent other mothers losing their daughters to cancer
When her youngest daughter died of breast cancer at the age of 32, her mother Amanda Jones, 74, was devastated to lose her baby.
Since then, the retired radiographer from Surrey has committed herself to fundraising to prevent other mothers losing their daughters to cancer.
Rebecca, who ran a camping site in Nice, France, with her partner, died 13 years ago.
‘Any parent who’s lost a child knows that this is not the way it should be,’ Mrs Jones, a mother-of-three, said.
‘Children shouldn’t go before their parents.
‘Her death has meant I am dedicated to raising money for research into this terrible disease so that this doesn’t happen to other families.’
DIAGNOSED JUST MONTHS AFTER LOSING HER HUSBAND
Sarah Falola, 44, was diagnosed with cancer just months after burying her husband following his eight year battle with the disease
In a cruel twist of fate, Sarah Falola, 44, was diagnosed with cancer just months after burying her husband following his eight year battle with the disease.
Unwilling to be defeated, the mother-of-three fights on for the sake of her young boys who are still at school.
The housewife, from Leytonstone, east London, didn’t realise that she was ill while she nursed her husband Ayo, 47, a sports coach for the Jubilee Olympic Team.
‘I was diagnosed five months after he passed away,’ she said.
‘I think with hindsight I had noticed changes but I wasn’t focusing on myself at the time.
‘The diagnosis took me by surprise. I just didn’t think it would happen to me after what we had been through.
‘Telling my sons was the hardest thing I ever did. They had already lost their daddy.’
She is currently undergoing radiotherapy and caring for her sons Toby, seven, Ben, nine and Oliver, 11. She will soon do a skydive to raise money for charity.