'Mum's life was snatched away - I hope mine will be saved'

Upon finding out she had a 90% chance of breast cancer due to carrying the BRCA1 gene, Siobhan Gracey made a brave decision

- ANN CUSACK

'Iying on the hospital trolley as I was wheeled down to the operating theatre, I was overwhelmed with a sudden. sadness. Today was the day I'd say goodbye to my beloved boobs - forever. Lots of women have double mastectomies, I know that. But my situation was different - because I'd made the decision to have the surgery myself.

My mum Geraldine had lost her life to breast cancer and I was determined to do what I could to beat the killer gene that had ravaged our family. I'd miss my boobs, but it was so much more important for me to stay alive. And as the anaesthetist appeared at my side, I could have sworn I heard Mum whispering softly in my ear, "You're doing the right thing, love, I'm here for you." Growing up in Wigan, Greater Manchester, me and my twin sister Rebecca had been so close to our mother. She was so funny and always in high spirits. She and I loved to shop too. Mum was a big fan of Christmas and our decorations were always up way earlier than everyone else's. Each year, she took us to a local garden centre to admire their Christmas display and choose a new festive knick-knack.

"Let's treat ourselves to a Christmas gingerbread in the café while we're here," she'd say.

We loved those outings. She made the countdown to Christmas so special.

More than anything, she put everyone before herself, always.

Our gran, Monica, had died from breast cancer, and other relatives had been affected. So when Mum was diagnosed with stage three aggressive cancer in 2001, aged 42, it was a real blow. I was only 11 years old and though I didn't really understand how serious it was, I hated seeing her suffer. She had a single mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy and then radiotherapy.