By Jenny Barwise

Published at 11:33, Monday, 27 September 2010

A FORMER Workington woman who has battled breast cancer twice has teamed with a high-street clothes shop to launch its new collection to raise money for research.

Cancer fight: Jill Jones with her husband Martin and four-year-old daughter Amelia

Jill Jones, whose parents James and Anne McTear own the town’s Cumberland Hotel, found out the devastating news that she had breast cancer three years ago.

She beat the cancer but it returned the following year. And 41-year-old Jill again won the battle.

Jill and her four-year-old daughter Amelia have now joined forces with Peacocks to launch its latest fun, pink fashion range to support Cancer Research UK’s new breast cancer campaign ‘Join the fight for women’s survival.’

Jill, who was born and brought up in Workington and now lives in Wiltshire, has spoken about how she came to Cumbria to be with her parents while she waited for her first test results.

“We went to visit my parents for a week while I waited for the results and my mum told me I looked too healthy for there to be anything wrong,” she recalls.

“I tried to be positive, but deep down I was thinking the worst. There were several people in the room when I went for my results and I knew the consultant was going to tell me I had cancer. It was still a shock.”

Treatment included a lumpectomy when a tumour the size of a small orange was removed. Further surgery was needed before Jill took part in a clinical trial for a new chemotherapy treatment, followed by a course of radiotherapy.

As Jill, who at the time also worked for an airline, was due to have a check-up at the end of 2008 she learned of the death of a work colleague, a 34-year-old mother of a young baby, who had been diagnosed with cancer three months before herself.

Just days later, Jill’s check-up confirmed her cancer had returned and the following month she underwent a full mastectomy. The day before her 40th birthday, doctors told Jill the good news that the cancer had not spread.

Pink products are on sale now in all Peacocks stores throughout Cumbria including Workington and Whitehaven with a donation of 15 per cent of the sale going to Cancer Research UK.

JBarwise@cngroup.co.uk

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk