Cancer, courage & changes LORNA'S THROWING EVERYTHING AT RECOVERY

Despite her diagnosis, the radio star still feels like the luckiest woman alive

- Donna Fleming

Earlier this year, Lorna Subritzky E was among a group of tourists in Rarotonga who, after experiencing the delights of swimming with turtles, were asked an intriguing question.

On their journey back to shore, their guide wanted to know what their superpower would be if they had one. Coast FM host Lorna didn't hesitate when it was her turn.

"I immediately said that my superpower is that I'm an optimist," she reveals. "I'm just naturally a positive person and I always believe the best thing is going to happen. It doesn't always, but it makes the journey through the bad things better."

Lorna has needed to call on her superpower more than ever in the last year and a half to get through a raft of bad things life has thrown at her. She's had to cope with one trauma after another, including the sad loss of her beloved brother Vernon Riley, who died of cancer last year, and now her own battle against breast cancer.

"I know some people are not wired to be positive, so I feel lucky that I am," says the Auckland-based mum-of-three. "It makes the rollercoaster that is life a little easier to bear.

"It's not that I believe positivity can cure you nobody was more positive than Vernon, who believed right until the end that he was going to get better. If you are having to go through all of this stuff, it helps if you can still find the brighter things in life."

Looking on the bright side is crucial for Lorna, 54, as she goes through chemotherapy following diagnosis her with breast cancer a couple of months ago. This is the second time she has had the disease - the first was six years ago when a routine mammogram revealed she had DCIS or early-stage breast cancer.

After a partial mastectomy and radiotherapy, she was given the all-clear, and she has been vigilant about having yearly mammograms ever since.