Breast cancer: Norwich charity models say scars are empowering

Women who have been through breast reconstruction will take part in a fashion show

Twenty-four women will step on to the catwalk and out of their comfort zone later for a show that is about more than just fashion. Each model has been through breast reconstruction following cancer or the discovery of a hereditary breast cancer gene.

The BBC met two of those taking part ahead of the Keeping Abreast charity show in Norwich, Norfolk.

'My scars are empowering'

Former burlesque performer Cara Colley says she is happy to reveal scars from her surgery

In 2016, Artist and illustrator Cara Colley, of Norwich, had just finished breastfeeding her daughter, Caitlyn, when she found a lump.

She first assumed it was an infection, but later learned it was cancer.

"It was really aggressive cancer," she says.

"My oncologist was like 'this woman needs to have chemotherapy now' - I didn't have time to think.

"I was diagnosed just before my second Mother's Day, and the present she gave me, [a soft toy monkey], I now call Chemo Charlie."

Ms Colley also had a mastectomy and radiotherapy, and had to wait until January 2018 to be well enough to undergo reconstructive surgery.

Before cancer, she had been in and out of hospital with scoliosis and had an operation to straighten her spine when she was 15.

The 44-year-old says walking the catwalk in lingerie will push her out of her "comfort zone".

"I am body confident and have been for a long time," she says.

"My scars don't bother me - I used to do burlesque before cancer, and I have been back to do it since.

"Once you don't think about anyone else's bodies and instead think about how unique you are, and the reasons you are doing it, it's empowering.

"I am still me, and it's important for my daughter to see that."

'We are just normal women putting ourselves out there'

Michelle Chapman felt compelled to take part in the show which she says will be a confidence boost

Michelle Chapman, 48, of Dereham, Norfolk, feels apprehensive about the show, having not done anything remotely like it before.

"We've got four outfits each, so we walk out four times and the first time we have to do a dance routine to music - and I'm not a dancer," she says.

While daunted at the prospect, the medical secretary says she feels compelled to take part after her experience with breast cancer.

"I was diagnosed in November 2017 when I found a lump," the mother-of-three says.

"I had to have a lumpectomy in my left boob and they found it in other areas.

"They said they had to do a mastectomy to get rid of all of it."

Ms Chapman had the mastectomy and reconstruction in February 2018.

She says it made her want to try new things, like the fashion show, which she heard about through a nurse and consultant at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

"I am 50 next year, I just need to go for it," she says.

"I had my nose pierced a couple of weeks ago, which is something I'd always wanted to do, and I've had my hair cut a bit shorter."

Among Ms Chapman's outfits are a pair of "vegan leather" jogger-style trousers - something she would never pick out herself - and a trouser suit that is a little tighter than she would usually wear.

But she says wearing the different outfits will be a confidence boost.

"I keep telling my friends 'there's a dance routine', and they know it will be way out of my comfort zone," she says.

"We are not professionals, we are just normal women putting ourselves out there."

The charity Keeping Abreast was established in Norwich in 2007 by two patients and a breast reconstruction nurse to introduce women who had been through similar experiences