North Yorkshire new mum backs Stand Up To Cancer campaign after successful treatment for breast cancer

When she arrived at hospital for treatment, she broke down. But a nurse found the right words to encourage her to keep going. “I was the youngest person in there – everyone else was older or my grandparents’ age,” says Kayleigh, from Richmond. “You walk in and think, oh my goodness what’s going on? It’s quite daunting but the team were incredible.”

Kayleigh, now 32, is urging people to Stand Up To Cancer this autumn, backing the joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, after being successfully treated for breast cancer five years ago. Now fit and well and enjoying spending time with partner Josh and their baby Quinn, born earlier this year, Kayleigh is sharing her story to encourage others to stand united against the disease by raising money to accelerate life-saving research.

The private banking manager discovered a lump in her breast when she was in the shower. “To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t specifically feeling for a lump,” she says, “but I noticed something felt different. I said to Josh, do you think that lump is normally there? I just assumed it was normal but the right thing to do was to go and get it checked out.”

Kayleigh saw her GP who decided to send her for further tests. “Everybody says you’re too young for that really but the doctor was brilliant and said let’s refer you on for extra checks – but I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”

A biopsy and ultrasound followed and Kayleigh suspected something was wrong when she was asked to go in person to receive her results. She was told she had stage 2 breast cancer and a fast-growing tumour which hadn’t yet spread to her lymph nodes. “It was a bit of a curveball – we weren’t expecting that. I did assume it would be normal,” she says.

It was explained that Kayleigh would need chemotherapy and radiotherapy and she was asked about any future plans to have a baby. “One of the questions they asked us early on was do you want to have a family? We had to have fertility treatment and IVF. Because of my age, they wanted to give me quite strong chemo and quite a tough round of radiotherapy, so the cancer was destroyed completely. That can affect your fertility.”

Kayleigh was referred to a specialist fertility team. Some of her eggs were harvested and frozen as a back-up plan for Kayleigh and Josh, although Quinn was conceived naturally.

Kayleigh’s cancer treatment lasted a total of nine months and she credits Josh, parents Sue and Mark and her family and friends for providing her with the support she needed throughout. “My parents, family, friends, work – everybody was just incredible. I couldn’t have asked for any more.”

Today, she continues to have an annual check-up and takes preventative medication. “It’s thanks to research that I’m still standing and can look forward to a future full of special moments with my loved ones,” she says. “If the research hadn’t been done, we don’t know what treatments would be available.

“Cancer can affect anyone’s life, at any time, so we really have no choice other than to unite against it and help support the scientists to keep making new discoveries. I want Quinn to grow up in a world free from the fear of cancer.”

Cancer Research UK says around 32,500 people are diagnosed with cancer every year in Yorkshire and the Humber. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Stand Up To Cancer in the UK and more than £93 million has been raised to date, funding 64 clinical trials and projects involving more than 13,000 cancer patients. 

The campaign helps to take breakthroughs from the lab and transform them into cutting-edge treatments that could help save the lives of more people like Kayleigh. She’s urging people to fundraise and also trying to spread the word about the importance of people knowing their bodies and getting any symptoms checked.

She says: “Success stories like mine would not be possible without research into better and kinder treatments, that’s why I’m lending my heartfelt support to this vitally important campaign. Every action big or small could help make a difference."

To fundraise or donate, visit su2c.org.uk