Latest news with #CoppaFeel!
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Mum's breast cancer awareness 'trek of a lifetime'
Rebecca Horne said she could not imagine at the age of 35 she would go from "being pregnant to breastfeeding to sudden menopause, all in the space of a year". The mother from Wallingford, Oxfordshire, was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months after giving birth. Now in recovery, she is heading to the Isle of Skye with breast cancer charity CoppaFeel! for a 62-mile (100km) trek on 14 June to help raise awareness of the disease, especially among young people. "If you find something and you go and get it looked at, you've got the best possible chance of a good outcome, the earlier it's found," Ms Horne said. Ms Horne, who lives with her partner Ian and their four-year-old son Theo, said she "had a horrible feeling that it was something sinister" when she found a swelling in her armpit. The mum, who said she has a family history of the disease, mentioned the symptom at a follow-up GP appointment for her son. "Within a few days I was seen at the Churchill Hospital and I was told on the day that it was breast cancer," she said. Following the diagnosis, Ms Horne, who is part of Oxfordshire County Council's adult social care team, said she was off work for about 13 months. She underwent treatments including chemotherapy, breast conserving surgery and radiotherapy, followed by hormone suppressants. "It's not ideal to receive a cancer diagnosis at any time of our lives but it feels particularly hard when it is in those early years of motherhood," she said. She said she noticed the signs after seeing a sticker for Change and Check, a breast cancer awareness campaign led by ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly. Ms Horne was invited to join a choir set up by the campaign after contacting the show's producer to say how it had helped her. She said it had "really taken off last year", with the choir recording a version of Love is All Around with singer Marti Pellow. After live performances on Lorraine and at the Royal Variety Performance in front of King Charles III, the choir was invited to the King's reception in recognition of community-based cancer support charities at Buckingham Palace. "It's been such a privilege to be part of it and be able to use our platform to raise awareness," she said. She is now preparing for what she described as a "trek of a lifetime", which she said "is really part of my recovery". "I thought it would be really nice to have a goal to train for and to distract me from the worries that come from a cancer diagnosis," she explained. Ms Horne said while "there is a lot fear around going to get checked" it was important "to prioritise our health". "As busy young women, we forget," she said. "But it is about making time to do the things that we need to keep ourselves fit and well. "And remembering that you can't pour from an empty cup, you have to be well in yourself to look after others." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. 'Book club has helped me cope with cancer' Prototype 'to light up' hidden breast cancers 'I found a lump in my breast watching Bake Off' Cancer campaigner 'overwhelmed' at meeting the King Scan women in 30s - breast cancer charity CoppaFeel! Oxfordshire County Council
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BBC Strictly Come Dancing star admits she 'cracked' and had 'full breakdown'
A former Strictly Come Dancing star admitted she "cracked" and had a "full breakdown" just days into a charity trek. TV presenter Angela Scanlon has bravely opened up about the challenges she faced while taking part in the CoppaFeel! charity trek, alongside Emma Willis, Sara Davis and Candice Brown. Despite her happy public persona, she confessed to often feelings isolated - and revealed she hit breaking point when trekking the Himalayas in India last November. READ MORE: IKEA meatballs just £1 this weekend - and kids eat for 50p Angela, who was a team leader, said she felt overwhelmed by the experience within days of beginning the challenge, the Mirror reports. In a Substack post, she said: "A couple of days in - I cracked. Full breakdown. Ugly crying into my yak-themed duvet." She had hoped to be there to motivate the female trekkers with breast cancer but said: "What the actual f**k was I thinking? "How arrogant was I to believe I'm equipped to hold these brilliant women at such a tender time? "I was lonely. Not the cute, 'oh I miss my mates' lonely. The hollow, I have an incredible following of 436K people on Instagram, a full family life, a busy work life and still feel like I'm shouting-into-a-void kind of lonely. Angela said the feelings must have been hitting her on and off for years - maybe even forever - but it led to her launching a grassroots community called Hot Messers. Explaining the idea of the walking group, she said: "The kind where you turn up in joggers, cry on a bench if you need to, and nobody blinks. The kind where you don't need to filter yourself to fit." Angela had previously admitted she was "riddled" with anxiety when she landed BBC's The One Show gig. Her book, Joyrider details how frantic she was at having to deal with her anxiety in private, instead of telling her production team. "It was too late to backtrack, so I spent a long and lonely stint never once expressing fear or asking for the help of support I so desperately needed," she said. "I had built myself a little cage and wouldn't let anyone in. The team were amazing, but I was riddled with anxiety."
Daily Mirror
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Strictly Come Dancing star 'breaks down' just days into filming new project
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Angela Scanlon has candidly opened up about suffering a 'full breakdown' while taking part in a charity trek alongside the likes of Emma Willis A former star of Strictly Come Dancing has candidly revealed she suffered a "full breakdown" during a charity trek. Angela Scanlon bravely opened up about her challenges with loneliness despite her happy persona in public. The 41-year-old TV presenter boasts a busy work schedule and family life, but she admits she doesn't always feel connected. Instead, she confessed to often feelings isolated. And the Irish star has revealed she hit breaking point last November when trekking the Himalayas in India. She was taking part as a team leader in the CoppaFeel! charity trek, walking alongside Emma Willis, Sara Davis and Candice Brown. However, she revealed that within days of beginning the challenge, she became overwhelmed by the intensity emotionally of the whole experience. She revealed she had hoped to be there to motivate the female trekkers, all of whom had had breast cancer. But things soon took a turn. "'A couple of days in - I cracked," Angela wrote in a Substack post. "Full breakdown. Ugly crying into my yak-themed duvet. She revealed she didn't think she was the right person to take on the challenge at the time. She continued to reveal her thoughts, adding she was thinking: "What the actual f*** was I thinking? How arrogant was I to believe I'm equipped to hold these brilliant women at such a tender time?" And Angela admitted the loneliness she had been feeling had been inside her for years. "I was lonely. Not the cute, 'oh I miss my mates' lonely. The hollow, I have an incredible following of 436K people on Instagram, a full family life, a busy work life and still feel like I'm shouting-into-a-void kind of lonely," she added. Despite having many friends, kids at home and a full-on schedule, Angela revealed the feelings must have been hitting her on and off for years - maybe even forever. Her feelings at the time led to a breakthrough, though. She revealed how it led to her deciding to launch a grassroots community called Hot Messers. The idea behind the walking group was so that people could simply turn up without pretence. "The kind where you turn up in joggers, cry on a bench if you need to, and nobody blinks," she explained. "The kind where you don't need to filter yourself to fit." Angela has candidly opened up on past struggles in previous interviews too. She admitted she was "riddle" with anxiety when she landed BBC's The One Show gig. In her book, Joyrider, she revealed she frantic at having to deal with her anxiety in private, instead of telling her production team. She said: 'It was too late to backtrack, so I spent a long and lonely stint never once expressing fear or asking for the help of support I so desperately needed. 'I had built myself a little cage and wouldn't let anyone in. The team were amazing, but I was riddled with anxiety."
Daily Mail
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Angela Scanlon reveals she suffered a 'breakdown' during charity trek as she opens up about battling loneliness
Angela Scanlon bravely opened up on Thursday about her long-running battle with loneliness - revealing it became so overwhelming that she suffered a 'full breakdown'. The Irish TV presenter, 41, admitted that despite her busy work schedule, bustling family life and large social media following, she often feels deeply isolated. Angela, who has two young daughters with husband Roy Horgan, has now revealed that she hit breaking point during a CoppaFeel! charity trek in the Himalayas, India last November. The former Strictly star was a team leader during the trip alongside fellow TV presenter Emma Willis, entrepreneur Sara Davies and Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown. Sharing her emotional story in a Substack post, Angela said she had hoped simply to motivate the female trekkers, all of whom had had breast cancer. However, just days into the challenging trek, she found herself overwhelmed by the emotional intensity of the experience. 'A couple of days in - I cracked. Full breakdown. Ugly crying into my yak-themed duvet,' she shared. She added she thought to herself at the time, 'I can't do this. I'm not the right person. What the actual f*** was I thinking? How arrogant was I to believe I'm equipped to hold these brilliant women at such a tender time?' Angela recalled lying awake at night crippled by self-doubt, before finally realising that she didn't need to put on a brave face - she simply needed to show up, exactly as she was. Reflecting on her experience, Angela - mother of Ruby, seven, and Marnie, three - admitted the loneliness she was feeling had been gnawing at her for years. She wrote: 'I was lonely. Not the cute, "oh I miss my mates" lonely. The hollow, I have an incredible following of 436K people on Instagram, a full family life, a busy work life and still feel like I'm shouting-into-a-void kind of lonely. 'This isn't new. It's a feeling that has hit me on and off for years. Maybe forever. Because technically, I'm not alone, in fact I'm rarely, if ever alone. 'I had WhatsApp groups pinging, toddlers pulling, 7 year old art projects and endless questioning, DMs buzzing, meetings stacked back-to-back.' Following her breakthrough in India, Angela revealed she decided to launch a grassroots community called Hot Messers - organising 'Hot Mess Walks' where people could turn up without pretence. She explained: 'The kind where you turn up in joggers, cry on a bench if you need to, and nobody blinks. The kind where you don't need to filter yourself to fit.' Despite her initial fear that nobody would show up, Angela's first walk was a quiet triumph, as women shared their struggles with heartbreak, loneliness, and the challenges of motherhood. 'For the first time in a long time, I remembered that being seen – really seen – is enough.' Angela said she held the second Hot Mess Walk earlier this week, which was 'double the size' of the first and just as powerful - proving that many others are craving the same kind of raw, honest connection. Last year, Angela discussed her 15-year battle with eating disorders during an interview on Loose Women. She said of her anorexia and bulimia: 'It isn't necessarily one of the other. They go in cycles, it can sometimes feel really bleak.' She added: 'From my late teens or early 20s, for 15 years, I was in a bad place. For me, the turning point was a friend of mine, who was also suffering, saying we are just going to have the illnesses forever. 'And to her it felt like a comforting, a support in numbers. But for me, I really kicked against that notion of having to stay in that very small space for a long time.' It was Angela's first-ever appearance on the show, and she later took to Instagram to joke that she had popped her 'Loose Women cherry'. In 2023, Angela revealed to Weekend Magazine she used to feel a bit like a swan – elegant on the surface while paddling furiously underneath. She appeared to have it all, with a burgeoning career as one of the UK's most in-demand broadcasters thanks to appearances on The One Show and as host of BBC2's interiors hit Your Home Made Perfect, as well as her own chat show in Ireland and a popular podcast. But beneath the facade Angela was racked by insecurity. She had an eating disorder that began in her teens , and by the age of 20 she was often surviving on black coffee and tinned pineapple. Her anorexia and bulimia were later replaced with workaholism. 'I think an eating disorder is about trying to control things, when everything feels out of your power,' she said. 'It took me much longer to recognise I'd replaced the eating disorder with work, as I believed I'd sorted myself out. 'I'd built a career and a life I enjoyed. But it wasn't until later I realised that when I slowed down, the problems were still the same. I think anyone with an addiction will recognise it's easy to swap one for another.' The result was a feeling of emptiness that Angela explores in her deeply personal book Joyrider, in which she describes not only her troubles but also what helped save her – tapping into her natural resources of joy and gratitude for the small positives in life. This is the 'joyriding' part of the book, referring to a conscious swerve into a 'sweeter lane'. Although she was nervous about revealing her vulnerabilities, it's been an empowering experience that's helped others too. 'Writing Joyrider was freeing,' she says. 'There was something cathartic about it. People think we can only talk about things when we're ready, but there's something so powerful about talking about it when you're still in the process because healing is happening all the time.' It you have been affected by issues raised in this story contact eating disorder charity Beat on 0808 801 0677 and mental health charity Mind on 0300 123 3393.
Wales Online
02-05-2025
- Health
- Wales Online
Strictly's Amy Dowden issues candid plea to fans in fresh breast cancer update
Strictly's Amy Dowden issues candid plea to fans in fresh breast cancer update Amy Dowden documented her gruelling cancer journey on social media and has fought for more awareness of the illness Amy Dowden documented her gruelling cancer battle on social media (Image: Karwai Tang, WireImagevia Getty Images ) Amy Dowden has shared a candid breast cancer update with fans, one year after receiving the all-clear. The 34-year-old Strictly Come Dancing star faced a challenging time after being diagnosed with the illness in 2023, undergoing a mastectomy and intensive chemotherapy. Using social media to share her progress, Amy received the uplifting news of 'no evidence of the disease' in February 2024. Yet, the Welsh ballroom expert is unwavering in her commitment to raising awareness of the disease, providing regular heartfelt updates to her followers. Yesterday, Amy reflected on her personal struggle by posting an old photo of herself at the hospital undergoing a scan. She captioned it: "Just seen pic in an article online. This was my scan, nearly a year ago. "I'm smiling there (inside I was [nervous] but gosh have I come such a long way since. It's the first of the month!" Amy then posed an important question to her fans about their well-being. "When was the last time you checked yourself?", she asked. "I'm going to share the resources/next story! If you're not checking, who is?" Amy highlighted tools from CoppaFeel! which encourage individuals to periodically check and feel their breasts for any odd changes. Among potential warning signs to be vigilant of are lumps, swelling, and peculiar alterations in the size or shape of the breasts, in addition to other symptoms: Article continues below Nipple discharge (if you're not pregnant or breastfeeding), which may have blood in it Lumps or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit Change in size or shape of 1 or both breasts, or either side of your chest – it's common for breasts to be different sizes, but check for any changes that are not normal for you Sores or ulcers on your chest Change in the skin of your breast, such as dimpling (it may look like orange peel) or redness, which may be harder to see on black or brown skin Change in the shape or look of your nipple, such as it turning inwards (inverted nipple) or a rash on it (it may look like eczema) Advice from the NHS also adds: "Checking your breasts or chest regularly helps you learn what looks and feels normal for you. This makes it easier to notice any changes that could be a sign of a condition such as breast cancer. "You should try to check your breasts or chest about once a month." Amy's plea also comes just days after the health service urged eligible individuals aged 50 to 71 to get a mammogram. Typically, women receive invitations every three years for breast cancer screenings until they reach 71. Members of the transgender community, including trans men, trans women, and non-binary people, are also entitled to routine screenings. However, some may need to proactively reach out to their GP to ensure they're included in the process. During the appointment, a female specialist will perform four X-rays of the breasts, with each session typically lasting just 30 minutes. NHS England further explains: "For every 100 people who have breast screening, four will need further tests. "This does not necessarily mean you have breast cancer. Most people who need further tests do not have breast cancer. You will be invited for a breast assessment appointment. "If you're worried or have any questions, you can speak to a breast screening nurse over the phone before your appointment. Your invitation for further tests will tell you how to contact them. "...The specialist team will tell you when and how you will get your results, depending on which tests were done." Article continues below Macmillan Cancer Support has a free helpline that's open every day from 8am to 8pm. They're there to listen if you have anything you want to talk about. Call: 0808 808 00 00
