Stella McCartney gets tested for killer disease with sister on same day

Daily Record

a day ago

Sir Paul McCartney's daughter Stella has spoken out about the pain of losing her mum Linda, nearly three decades after her tragic death.
Fashion designer Stella McCartney has opened up about the heartbreak of losing her mum Linda to breast cancer and is urging women across the UK to make use of free NHS screenings.
The 53-year-old daughter of Beatles legend Sir Paul, was just 25 when her mum died in 1998, aged 53 - three years after she was diagnosed with the disease.
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Now, in a rare and emotional interview, Stella has shared how she and her sister Mary, 55, go for mammograms together every year - and she is calling on other women to do the same, the Mirror.
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Her warning comes just a week after British pop star Jessie J, 37, revealed her own breast cancer diagnosis, sparking shock among fans. The Bang Bang singer - real name Jessica Cornish - has been sharing honest updates with her 13.9 million Instagram followers so they can keep up to date with her progress.
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Urging women to get tested, Stella said: "I love the idea of going with my sister and my best friends on International Women's Day every year.
"I think it is a nice way to celebrate that process. Go and get your mammograms. My sister is my best friend. It is like no other."
Stella previously described losing Linda - animal rights campaigner and photographer - as 'the most difficult thing I've ever had to encounter', and admits the feeling of loss is with her every day.
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Despite her mother passing away 27 years ago, the mum-of-four – who shares sons Miller, 20, Beckett, 17, and daughters Bailey, 18, and Reiley, 15, with husband Alasdhair Willis, says she still feels her mum guiding her every day.
She said: "My mum didn't see my kids. I was just 28. It is the greatest loss, especially when you become a mother. I was so young and passing down motherhood, what a beautiful gift. It is just not you not having her and you losing her it is them not knowing her too. Like "She didn't know you".
Stella recently praised Beyonce's mother Tina Knowles for speaking out about her own breast cancer scare.
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She said: "I think it was courageous for you (Tina Knowles) to share your story and I wish more people would share it. I wish more people would have shared that what when my mother was alive, hoping that she would still be alive. So I commend you for talking about it. Everyone should get mammograms. It is all about prevention. It is so important.
"I have spent a lot of time at a breast centre in Kettering and I highlight this disparity in breast cancer mortality. I ask so many questions and some don't know they can get free screenings."
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Today, Stella says the spirit of her late mum Linda still plays a huge part in how she runs her life, both at home with her husband Alasdhair Willies, and in the way she runs her business.
The designer - who takes after her mother in her love of animals and refusal to eat meat and uses no leather or fur in creations for her eponymous label - says her ethos is partly inspired by her mother's beliefs.
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Stella said: "What an influence my mum was. Obviously in my life she guides me how I conduct myself in my business and in my home."
But despite the trappings of the McCartney name, Stella admits she is just like any other mother at home, especially when it comes to her daughters who often steal treasured items from her catwalk collections.
She said: "I have an 18-year-old daughter but she is now an age when she is stealing all my major clothes. She is like "Can I go into the archive?" and she whips out the most iconic pieces. She is like "Oh that is the 1997 runway." And I never see it again."
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"But my kids do get mad at me. There is that Saturday Night Live sketch where they say "I am your mother".
"My kids always play that to me. But I said to my daughter once "The only mission I have as a mother is to pass on the thing I have learned." My boys are different."
And as Father's Day approaches this Sunday, Stella says her children are just like everyone else's adding: "I have to tell my kids like it is Father's Day coming up. I say to them that we don't need anything, We don't need anything so I say to them 'But write him a letter. Make him proud of you.'