Turners Hill Resident Walking the Himalayan Mountains for her Terminally Ill Sister

By Jamie Di Francescomarino

From what I’ve been told by the women close to me who have had children, pregnancy is scary. Scary enough on its own but imagine finding a lump during your pregnancy. And then getting it dismissed by doctors. This was one big reality for Emma from Hove.

All seemed fine for a while until just after Emma’s 34th birthday, when little George was only 7 months old and Emma went back to the doctor’s knowing for certain something wasn’t right. Then followed those three words that no one wants to hear, she was in fact told, “You have cancer”. Devastatingly, the cancer, which was of the breast, had spread to most of her bones as well as her liver due to the late diagnosis, meaning now, her cancer was incurable, or Stage 4 as you may know it.

Emma went straight into Chemotherapy and although her body responded as well as it could, she is now on life-long treatment as the cancer can’t be cured. However, this treatment will help keep the cancer at bay and give Emma more time with her husband Tom and beautiful son George.
Paediatric Nurse Emma, has been raising awareness at her place of work to help her colleagues and peers alike, spot the signs, as so many women are diagnosed with cancer after pregnancy due to the disease being mistaken for hormonal changes.

Emma has also done her fair share of fundraising for charities such as Coppafeel and Make 2nds Count involving things like a 100k Ultra Marathon last July and a 5 day trek to Mont Blanc last September just months after an Oophorectomy which is the surgical removal of the ovaries to stop the cancer spreading here, too.

Emma’s sister, Alice from Turners Hill has drawn inspiration from the aforementioned fundraising efforts and has decided it’s Emma’s time to rest and she is going to do her bit now! Alice is walking across the Himalayan Mountains for Coppafeel whose mission is to stamp out the late diagnosis of breast cancer by making sure that young people are regularly checking their boobs, pecs and chests and getting to know their bodies, in order to have the confidence to see their GP if something just doesn’t feel normal.

Alice will be walking the Himalayas for her sister from 9th-17th November 2024 and if you have been touched by Emma’s story and would like to donate, please go to www.justgiving.com/page/alice-tagliavini

Emma, Tom and George