They are all confident, elegant and attractive, but these women have more in common than their good looks: Victoria, Theresa and Meelia are our finalists in the YOU/Breast Cancer Care model competition. They were chosen from more than 110 applicants – all gorgeous and inspiring – who have had or are living with breast cancer. And our winner Victoria will be modelling at next month’s Breast Cancer Care Fashion Shows in London. Here, all three become models for the day – and share their experiences of coping with cancer
Models with cause (from left): Victoria Davies, Theresa Buckley and Meelia Norwood
‘When I look back on that year of treatment, it was being told that I needed chemotherapy which made me almost lose the plot; it was confirmation that there was something really wrong. My children were so young – Amelia was six and Tom was just turning three – and I felt so scared for the future, theirs as much as mine,’ says Victoria.
She tried to make a joke of the fact that she would lose her waist-length blonde hair during the chemo. Shopping with her mother Molly one day, she came across a black and purple Halloween wig which she wore, to great comic effect, at a family dinner. But in the end – although admitting it ‘massively affected her confidence’ – she handled losing her hair with dignity.
'Winning has been the final boost for my confidence. I didn't feel like a woman but I do again now,' says Victoria
three-quarter length, next week a long bob, and so on, until we get to urchin.”
‘After chemo, I kept my fringe and a bit at the back but it felt straggly and thin, so I hid it under a cap. I didn’t ever wear a scarf. I did get a good wig, but I hardly wore it because it was hot and uncomfortable,’ she says, pulling a face at the memory.
Losing your hair, Victoria says, inevitably undermines your sense of femininity. At first she had dismissed her fears about this particular side effect of chemo as ‘vanity’. ‘But then, when it’s gone, and you have no eyebrows or eyelashes, it’s almost like you lose your identity. I did my best – I put on make-up and false eyelashes every morning, but when I walked into school with Amelia I felt everyone was whispering, and she had so many comments about me from the other children, it broke my heart.’
After her sixth session of chemo, Victoria had a vivid dream that her hair was growing back, and later that day Jackie had a look and saw that it was indeed growing through at the back, although it was completely grey. As soon as it was long enough, after seeking advice from her oncologist, Victoria dyed her hair, and gradually she began to ‘feel like a woman again’.
It was Victoria’s husband Steven, 40, an engineer, who persuaded her to enter the YOU competition (he has been, she says, ‘absolutely amazing’ throughout the experience). When she found she had won, she ‘nearly fell off her seat’ at the brewery where she works in administration two days a week.
‘That was the final boost for my confidence. I am me again and I don’t want cancer to define me. It’s funny – when Tom was a baby he used to curl his finger around my hair, and when it fell out, he couldn’t do it any more, which made me cry. But he does it again now, and the other day he said to me, “Mummy, I can hold your hair again,”’ she says with a radiant smile.
'Having breast cancer has taken certain things away from me, but I am still me,' says Meelia
the catwalk never occurred to her until she read about the YOU competition. Meelia has been married to Ian, 50, for 25 years and together they run a textiles business. Their children Christopher, 23 (an apprentice engineer), and Hannah, 21 (a dental nurse), live with them in Nottingham.
Meelia was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2010 after her GP referred her to her local breast cancer clinic. Within four days of her first visit, she was informed she would need a mastectomy, and two weeks later she
had the surgery.
‘I think the worst time was the wait after the surgery to hear whether I might need chemotherapy. When my oncologist told me I wouldn’t, I didn’t want to show too much emotion, because there were other women in
the waiting room who might not get such good news; but as soon as I got out of the hospital, I let it all out.
‘I had monthly injections of Zoladex for a year and I have to take Tamoxifen for five years. There are side effects, but I live with them because the treatment is going to make me well,’ she says.
Meelia opted for tissue-expander reconstruction, which will be completed shortly. She is full of praise for the NHS and overwhelmingly thankful for the support she has had from her husband, her children and her sister Murva. ‘With their help, I have been able to take it pretty much in my stride. It was tough at first. I did find myself looking at my children and thinking, “I might not be around to
see them get married.” Breast cancer has taken certain things away from me, but I am still me. My advice to others with breast cancer is to take each day at a time and be positive. Once your clothes are on, no one notices.’
'We have tried to make a joke of losing my hair and have nicknamed my wig Shirley,' says Theresa
A private-relationship banking manager with RBS, she has also brought up two sons, Ryan, 25, now a financial consultant, and Ross, 20, who is at university, and she has always taken pride in her appearance.
‘We have tried to make a joke of losing my hair. I have a wig already, which we have nicknamed Shirley. Ryan has offered to take the clippers to my hair once it starts falling out, but it is very hard, and I know that it will affect my confidence,’ she says.
At the shoot, it is just six weeks since her surgery. She opted to have simultaneous reconstruction and although she is still in shock (her grade 2 invasive breast cancer was only diagnosed after a routine mammogram), she’s already talking positively.
‘It has brought the whole family closer together. And it has taught me a lot. I think in the past I was sometimes guilty of deciding whether or not I liked someone and what kind of person they were on first impression, and I now realise that you shouldn’t do that. I have found out that a lot of the people I had initially judged are true friends,’ she says.
Theresa loves clothes and is determined that even when she does have to wear Shirley, she will look her best. ‘You know what, I will never take anything in life for granted again,’ she says, smiling across at her husband.
Join YOU to celebrate fashion and support Breast Cancer Care
A DAY TO REMEMBER
All profits from ticket sales will be used to fund Breast Cancer Care’s free support and information services. There is a champagne reception at all events with a choice of afternoon tea or dinner at the London shows, and lunch or dinner in Glasgow. There will be musical entertainment at all shows and a luxury prize draw.
CELEBRATING LIFE
Breast Cancer Care’s fashion shows are a celebration of life after diagnosis. Every year, 50,000 people in the UK are told they have breast cancer and each of the 44 glamorous models (both men and women) taking part in the shows have had or are going through breast cancer. Last year’s events raised around £500,000 for Breast Cancer Care, so join us to help make this year’s shows even more of a success.HOW TO BOOK
Visit breastcancercare.org.uk/theshow to buy tickets, or call:- Glasgow - 29 September at the Radisson Blu Hotel, tel: 0141 353 8337
- London - 5 October at the Grosvenor House Hotel, tel: 0845 092 0806
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