It was the 2019 North of England County Championships and she had felt run down for a while, so had already booked in for a blood test but decided to check her breasts.

“I was still not feeling great, decided to have a shower and I’ve no idea to this day what made me examine myself but I found a lump in my right breast, close to my armpit,” she said.

She went on to be diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, which has been successfully treated.

Lysa Jones is fundraising for Cancer Research UK. Photograph by Richard Walker/ImageNorth.

Now Lysa is sharing her experience in the hope that it will encourage others to join her and take part in a night-time walking event for Cancer Research UK.

Lysa, who lives near York, will be teaming up with friends for the charity’s 10k Shine Night Walk, which is returning to the city on Saturday.

The event starts at Rowntree Park at 7pm, when participants will take to the city’s streets to form a “fun and inspirational parade of light”, aimed at helping Cancer Research UK get closer to beating disease. It will pass some of York’s best-known landmarks, including the Minster and Yorkshire Museum.

Lysa, who is part of Graham Walker’s Golf Academy Professional team at The Oaks Golf Club and Spa at Aughton near York, and whose work includes coaching the England under 18s boys, says that when she found the lump she wasn’t scared.

Lysa Jones, who took up golf when she was 14 and qualified as a PGA professional in 1999. Photograph by Richard Walker/ImageNorth.

“I didn’t feel worried, I felt really calm. The next morning I just got on with my duties. I didn’t tell anyone, because I was so busy, so I pushed it to one side. We won that week and I was on a high and buzzing.”

With a family history of the disease, however, Lysa wanted to have the lump checked.

“My nan passed away with cancer, my mum passed away with cancer. The first person I phoned was my sister – and said I’ve found a lump.”

After Lysa saw a doctor and was eventually diagnosed, her treatment included a lumpectomy followed by radiotherapy and medication which will be prescribed for five years.

“It was a date I try to forget,” she says of the diagnosis, adding that it was a bit like having an out-of-body experience.

“It was traumatic as the day I was told of my diagnosis was the ten-year anniversary of when my mum lost her battle to cancer.”

York is one of just 19 locations across the UK selected to host a Shine Night Walk in 2022, and another Yorkshire event is taking place in Leeds on Friday, October 21.

Lysa says: “There really is no better motivation than knowing you’re helping to save lives.”

To enter or volunteer, visit shinewalk.org and to view Lysa’s sponsorship page, where she is raising money for Cancer Research UK, visit https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/lysas-giving-page

Cancer Research UK Shine Night in York: Golf ace shares story to raise awareness