St Ives Breast Cancer Now Pink Ribbon Walk for Jane Comish

A St Ives woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant is set to take part in Breast Cancer Now’s Pink Ribbon Walk at Bakewell Showground.

Jane Comish will walk 20 miles on 22 June - a mile for each year since she was diagnosed while expecting her second child, James, 20 years ago.

The 56-year-old preschool keyperson said: “The diagnosis came as a huge shock and I had to plan what to do next as I was carrying a baby.

“It was a really difficult time because my main instinct was to protect the baby whereas from a health perspective, the process is to look after you first and the baby second. Which doesn’t feel right as a mum.

"I was reluctant to have treatment while I was carrying the baby, but my medical team insisted that I undergo some treatment to hold the tumour.

"It was scary as I didn’t know anyone else my age that had been diagnosed and I was shocked as it’s rare to have breast cancer while pregnant and my oncologist had never dealt with a pregnant lady before.”

While she was pregnant, Jane had an initial course of chemotherapy, followed by an aggressive course of chemotherapy after James was born. 

Jane with her son James who is now 20-years-old. (Image: Jane Comish)

This was followed by a mastectomy on her left breast and radiotherapy a few months later.

Jane said: “It felt enormous and it floored me at the start, but an older friend of mine gave me some good advice and said ‘just do a day at a time.’ And that’s what we did.

"We lived a day at a time and then it became a week at a time. We made little milestones and ticked them off one-by-one. And then eventually it was behind us, but it was still quite daunting for a long time until I knew for sure it was gone.”

“I find it difficult to celebrate the fact I’m ‘cancer free’ because it almost feels like tempting fate. So rather than celebrate that I’m cancer free, we wanted to mark the occasion by doing the walk.

She added: "My baby James will now be 20 this year. The awful nightmare that we went through is 20 years ago and the walk I’m doing is 20 miles. I wanted to mark this in some way and give something back to Breast Cancer Now."

Jane was was diagnosed with breast cancer while expecting her second child, James, 20 years ago. (Image: Jane Comish)

With every step, walkers will help Breast Cancer Now to fund world-class research and life-changing support, helping Breast Cancer Now achieve its ambition that by 2050, everyone diagnosed with breast cancer will live and live well. 

Jane said: “It’s so important that we spread awareness as it’s easy to think that it won’t happen to you.

"I thought it wouldn’t happen to me and surely not while I was pregnant. It’s so important that we all get out there, keep exercising and raise awareness of breast cancer to raise money for research.”

Every year, around 55,000 women and 400 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK, and this number is continuing to rise.

With an estimated 600,000 living with a diagnosis of breast cancer and this predicted to rise to 1.2 million in 2030, raising awareness of breast cancer and funds is more important than ever.