A young Bramley mum recently diagnosed with breast cancer has revealed her five-year-old daughter's moving words as she undergoes treatment to save her life.
Mum-of-three Hollie Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2022. She initially found a lump in March and after a planned family holiday in April went to see her GP who referred her to a breast clinic.
Hollie underwent various tests and was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). She has had surgery to remove her left breast and is undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments to make sure the cancer cells are all gone.
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Following her diagnosis, Hollle has created a blog to be open and honest about her cancer journey and to help others going through similar experience. It was there she shared how her five-year-old daughter had some words of encouragement when she revealed she could lose her hair. Hollie said: "Edie-Grace said to me 'you’re still our mummy even if you look different and we still love you'.
"It made me think I am still me, it doesn’t change me as a person I’m still the same loud mouth silly person I am and this cancer will not defeat me."
To help Hollie during this difficult time, her sister Jennifer Clarke, 34 who lives in Stanningley, has set up a GoFundMe. The fundraiser will help Hollie and her family with bills as she is missing work, but it's also to help raise money for a professional wig.
Hollie works as an NHS apprentice clinical support and due to her cancer, her studies have had to be put on hold. With the cost of living crisis and less money coming in from both her and her husband, her sister wanted to give her peace of mind.
Jennifer said: "She’s had to put her studies on hold now and she wasn’t far off completing them which is awful. She’s been off since and will be off for a while.
“With her having the chemo, there is not a right lot I can do to help, we can’t take the cancer away, but we can help with the kids.
As well as helping with childcare and bills, Jennifer also wanted to make sure Hollie was comfortable when she loses her hair. A real human-hair wig can cost between £500 and £1,000. Jennifer said: "You can get cheap wigs but they look like fancy dress, I wanted to do something for her that they weren’t worrying and stressing.
“She used to do a lot of night shifts and her husband has had to take three weeks off to help with her recovery. I can’t just give her that money, so I set up a GoFundMe and within a day we hit half the target."
Speaking about Hollies' blog, Jennifer said: "Hollie’s been very strong, she is so raw and open about it, she doesn’t just post the positive stuff. She is my sister, I am in absolute awe of her, she is very out and open is our Hollie, we have a massive family and even if nobody listens to or reads the blog that doesn't matter, it's a way to get her emotions out there, it's so important to her."
Hollie has become an advocate for checking your body, often urging her followers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Her sister spoke of how overwhelmed she was by the response to the fundraiser.
Jennifer said: “To every single person that has donated, I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart, they just don’t realise how much of a difference it will make. She’s struggled a lot with her body and dealing with it not looking it like it did before, I am just so grateful, I know things are expensive these days so even those that are just sharing it, I am forever grateful for that too.
“They don’t know how much it means as a family or to our Hollie. I just want to raise as much as I can for her to ensure she doesn’t have to worry."
You can donate to Hollie's GoFundMe here.
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