Maria's Hero... Her Mum and Nan Winifred

“I am doing my third Moonwalk London, in honour of Nan and Mum who are my heroes.

My Nan Winifred was born in 1913 and diagnosed with breast cancer in her 40s having her first mastectomy at 47 in 1960. She had three children and my Dad, Ron who was only 13, used to take Nan after school for her treatment as Grandad Archibald worked.

Nan created her own prosthetics out of tights and birdseed before getting one from the NHS in the 1970s. Nan developed another lump and had her second mastectomy when she was 80 and battled on to reach her 84th birthday. She was a fighter!

More recently, my Mum has beaten breast cancer once in 2018 only to discover that it returned in 2021 and is now facing a mastectomy. Mum’s story is even more profound because in between her breast cancer she had treatment for colorectal cancer and had intense radio and chemo therapy to eradicate this rare condition. Last Christmas Mum found a malignant lump on her face and had it removed successfully. My Mum was so inspired by my Nan’s strength of character and determination, that she is standing strong and bracing herself for having her own mastectomy”.

Maria walks for her family - why do you walk the walk?

Thank you for sharing your story Maria. We look forward to seeing you at The MoonWalk London 2022!

Don't forget, our LIVE and Virtual MoonWalks are open for entries!