My old self returned as I stepped on catwalk

DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER AT 32, MUM-OF-TWO DESCRIBES HOW SHE REGAINED HER CONFIDENCE ON RUNWAY

- CAITLIN GRIFFIN

TRACEY Heslin was just 32 years old when her world came crashing down.

A perfectly fit and healthy mum-of-two, doctors had told her that she was 'too young' to get cancer - but then she was hit by not one, but two devastating diagnosis.

Tracey was dealt the news in October 2020 that she had breast cancer. Two weeks later, she received yet another blow, when specialists told her that she also had secondary cancer, meaning the disease had now spread to her bones.

"When I was told that, it broke me," she said.

The now 35-year-old from Wigan said that 12 months prior to her diagnosis, she had visited her GP after finding what she believed to be a lump but was told it was nothing.

"I went to the doctors and they sent me away because they couldn't feel anything and they said I was young. Twelve months later I went on holiday with my friend and when I was putting my swim costume on, she noticed that my breast was sinking in on one side.

"When we got home, I went straight to an emergency doctor and that's when I was diagnosed with primary breast cancer on September 29, 2020. By October 10, I was told I had secondary cancer meaning it had spread to the bones - my sternum and spine," she said.

Tracey said the news 'broke her, and that the impact the subsequent cancer treatment had on her body left her self-confidence in tatters.