Four-Year-Old Saves Mum From Breast Cancer After Finding Lump

Four-Year-Old Saves Mum From Breast Cancer After Finding Lump
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A four-year-old girl who alerted her mum to a lump in her breast has been called a 'lifesaver'.

Little Amelia Jones was playing with her mum, Jill when was just 15 months old when she accidentally elbowed her in the left breast.

When Jill went to rub the sore breast, she discovered a lump which turned out to be breast cancer.

After a mastectomy operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment, Jill is now in the clear, and credits her daughter for saving her life.

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Amelia was playing on the floor with Jill when she elbowed the boob, causing Jill to rub the bruised area to try and stop the pain. She then found a lump which was confirmed to be breast cancer after a mammogram and biopsy.

'I was absolutely devastated,' explains Jill.

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I had a 15 month old daughter and I was being told I had breast cancer. I was just numb with the shock. It was a tense wait but then they discovered it hadn't spread anywhere else, which was such a relief. They had caught it in the nick of time - and it was all thanks to Amelia.

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Jill had the lump removed and another operation to remove more of the surrounding tissue. She then underwent a course of intensive chemotherapy treatment which finished at the end of December 2007:

'It was difficult coping with the chemotherapy and trying to look after Amelia at the same time. But luckily she was too young to ask questions about what was happening to me.

i

I lost all my hair after just three weeks of chemotherapy. I was pushing Amelia in the pram in the park one afternoon when all my hair just started blowing out in the wind. It was heartbreaking.

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After remaining cancer-free for a year, it came back again in 2088 and doctors had to put Jill's body into early menopause with drug treatment, meaning she can't have more children.

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Now healthy, there are no signs of the cancer returning, and Jill is enjoying life with her growing daughter and husband, Martin:

'We had planned to have a brother or sister for Amelia, so it was upsetting that I couldn't have another baby. But we feel so lucky to have Amelia. I had a fast growing tumour and if Amelia hadn't elbowed me that day, I wouldn't have been so lucky, and the cancer could have quickly spread.

'When she's old enough I will tell her how she saved my life.'

Jill is supporting Cancer Research UK, the largest single funder of breast cancer research in the UK. For more information on breast cancer and how you can support Cancer Research UK's campaign, visit www.jointhefight.org.uk.