A woman whose world was turned upside down when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at the very young age of 27 is on a mission to educate young girls on the importance of getting yourself regularly checked.
Sarah Hall, 30, from Hemel Hempstead, paid a visit to her former school, Rickmansworth School, to give a talk in front of dozens of students.
She told them how at just 27, while studying at the City of London university, she was given devastating news after she found a lump on her breast.
She said: “It was a huge shock. I found a lump and went to get it checked out. We visited the doctor ten days later and I was told it was cancer.”
It turned out that Mrs Hall had a very aggressive form of cancer; triple negative breast cancer and she had to undergo a double mastectomy.
After undergoing treatment, Mrs Hall decided that she wanted to get in touch with other people of a similar age who have undergone as similar experience as her.
While searching online, she came across CoppaFeel!, a charity set up to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of breast cancer – particularly for younger people.
CoppaFeel! involves a group of young women which they like to call themselves the Boobettes. The women visit schools, offices, and community groups to deliver talks and share their very personal experiences in the hope it will encourage people to be more vigilant and aware of their bodies.
Sarah Hall talks to sixth form students at Rickmansworth School
Mrs Hall said: “Detection is the best method of defence. People aged in their 20s don’t really think about this and it certainly wasn’t something I thought about at school. So it was great to speak to sixth form students at my old school.”
Head of Sixth Form at Rickmansworth School, Chris Eley, said: "Rickmansworth School aims to ensure that all of its students are kept informed about important issues through insightful and poignant presentations such as the extremely important campaign by CoppaFeel!".
Visit https://coppafeel.org/ for more information.
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