Hartlepool breast cancer survivor promoting screening by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust

Retired district nurse Jean Walsh, from Hartlepool, found a lump in her breast in 2019 but believed it was nothing to worry about.

After being convinced by her friends to get checked out, Jean, 72, sought professional support and attended a mammogram at the University Hospital of Hartlepool over a year later in 2020.

It as then she then received the “devastating” news that she had breast cancer.

Jean said: “I just thought, it can’t be cancer. It’s not in my family.

"It was only due to the perseverance of my friends that I went for a mammogram and I was really shocked when they told me the lump was 14cm.”

Now three years clear, Jean is encouraging others not to ignore symptoms.

She is promoting breast screening, supported by Sorella Boutique, in Burn Road, Hartlepool which raises money to support breast screening across the Tees Valley.

The fashion store has so far raised more than £100,000 for charities, including the breast unit at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, in support of Jean and many others fighting breast cancer.

Jean added: “Sorella is amazing in their charity work. Cancer is something you have to try and live with and it has a big impact as well on husbands whose wives are diagnosed. I’ve had so much support from my friends and family.

"And I’ve gained a lot of emotional support from breast support groups online – they’re my extended family.

“The joy I get from giving back to my local community is indescribable.”

She regularly teaches in fitness and dance classes at a Hartlepool gym and Peterlee Pavillion and uses these sessions to encourage breast examination.

The North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust leads on breast screening across the Tees Valley and parts of County Durham.

The team diagnose around 360 cancers per year – almost one a day – through their mobile asymptomatic breast screening service.

They also carry out around 180 GP referred appointments based on exhibited symptoms a week across the trust’s Hartlepool and North Tees hospital sites.