Dee Mattoo, who was diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago at the age of 33, felt anxious about wearing certain clothes after being given a prosthetic implant to wear. That was because it was pink and designed for a white patient, looking very different from her own skin tone.
Ms Mattoo, who lives in south Birmingham, said: “It hit me when I would be wearing something and the actual thing would fall out and it would gape and be obvious – then you think I can’t wear what I want to wear.”
The 45-year-old, who is on cancer medication, said she would have had better mental health if she had been given the right breast prosthesis as she recounted how there had been no mention of the colour and only talk of matching the size and shape.
“I would put it down to ignorance,” she added. “I see it as prejudice in a way – people not being respected when some parts of their body are being removed.”
Her story comes as The Independent has learnt female cancer patients from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds are being given wigs designed for white women and prosthetic breasts which do not match their skin colour.
Campaigners warn that women of colour routinely have to “plead” or wait a long time to get a prosthesis that matches their skin tone and are often told nothing is available – with the lack of resources harming their mental health.
Cancer survivors with first-hand experience of the issue who spoke to The Independent in a series of interviews blamed the problem on a combination of ignorance, legacies of institutional racism, prejudice and unconscious bias.
Charlotte Crowl, project lead at Black Women Rising, which campaigns on this issue, said: “If a wig or prosthesis is offered to match someone’s colour or hair for one race, it should be offered to all races.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 22, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 22, 2024 من The Independent.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Tackling the darker side of England's finest moment
It should have been a night of celebration. As they gathered together at the Dorchester Hotel, Sir Clive Woodward's heroes of 2003 were meant to commemorate a World Cup triumph that still represents the acme of English men’s rugby. But, as Matt Dawson explains, there was a strange atmosphere in the room. As he caught up with his colleagues two decades on from reaching the mountaintop, what became clear was just how many were struggling on the other side.
New generation gather pace amid England inconsistency
Are England good? Consistently inconsistent across the whole of 2024, it is anyone's guess where England's true mean lies. But in a year where they have waved goodbye to Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson, a new generation has officially emerged.
Ashes to Ashworth: inside the Man U power struggle
Departure of sporting director after five months shows the soap opera at Old Trafford has just got itself a new storyline
Slot downplays the obvious: Liverpool are Europe's best
If Jurgen Klopp turned mantras into catchphrases and viceversa, Arne Slot has a less memorable way with words. Klopp talked of mentality monsters, of turning doubters into believers, of their identity being intensity, of Liverpool 2.0.
EU requires more than just honeyed words from Reeves
Labour keeps talking about 'resetting' our relationship with Europe but then turning down chances to advance, writes James Moore. It's time they actually did something concrete
Understanding the life and tragic death of Sam Cooke
The lingering conspiracies surrounding the soulful Sixties crooner threaten to overshadow a life of music and civil rights activism, writes Mark Beaumont, not to mention a voice that would influence Otis Redding and Tina Turner
BAH. HUMBUG
It may seem Scrooge-like but, as overconsumption runs wild, refusing to buy pointless Christmas presents is more radical political act than cost-cutting exercise, argues Helen Coffey
BATTLE OF THE BEIGE
As one social media star sues another for stealing her clean girl’ aesthetic, Rachel Richardson looks at a legal fight that has the potential to change the landscape of influencers
GCSE English is dying, this is how we bring it back to life
Pearson, one of the three leading exam boards in the UK, has warned that urgent reform at GSCE level is needed. If English (as a subject) is to survive at both A-Level and higher education, it needs to be less pale, male and stale.
The last thing civil servants need is to babysit tech bros
There is a deep irony in a government that has kept making the same sort of mistakes now lecturing its civil servants who have to deal with the consequences) that they should adopt the test-and-learn culture” of the best digital companies and first-class” government projects.
