Preston gran who beat breast cancer takes to London catwalk

A grandmother-of-two is celebrating overcoming breast cancer by taking to the catwalk of a London fashion show.

Bernadette Neville from Preston underwent surgery to remove her left breast last year and wants to show there's life after diagnosis.

She will join 24 other models who are all living with, or beyond, breast cancer at the Breast Cancer Now fashion show on 25 April.

The 68-year-old wants to raise awareness of the support available.

The retired wedding photographer said: "I was showering when I felt a lump in my left breast in 2022, so I called the GP and got an appointment at the breast clinic within the week.

"But then my husband's appendix burst and he needed surgery. That was a whirlwind week, so I wasn't worried about my appointment at all. I'd been so preoccupied."

Ms Neville said it was a "huge shock" when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in September 2022 and she feared she might not see her golden wedding anniversary in 2025.

"I thought about my great-grandmother Lizzie who'd been diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1920s. She was 63 when she died," she said. "Luckily my breast cancer was treatable."

After her diagnosis she said: "I remember thinking, 'I'm going to change my negative news into something positive. I am going to live to tell my story.

"So, over the next eight months, as I underwent a left mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, I tried to keep doing positive things for myself like going to the gym, walking and eating well.

"Finally on 12 June 2023 I rang the bell that signalled the end of my treatment. Nothing can compare to the joy of that day and knowing that I would be OK and could carry on living life to the fullest."

She said: "I remember after my surgery being dazed and taking off my gown for the first time, and my husband gave me a kiss and told me I was beautiful.

"I asked my oncologist what treatment my great-grandmother Lizzie would have had in the 1920s and he said it would have only been tablets. It made me more passionate about raising awareness of breast cancer research to help future generations, and also to raise awareness for everyone to keep checking their boobs."

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