Handsworth breast cancer patient becomes national poster girl to help fellow sufferers

Oct 20 2010 by Alison Dayani, Birmingham Mail

MELAINE Gardner works in a breast cancer screening unit – but that did not stop her from feelng confused and alone when she was told she had developed secondary breast cancer.

The 40-year-old, from Handsworth, Birmingham, was shocked to learn breast cancer cells had spread to another part of her body.

But the mum of two is now battling to ensure future sufferers never feel the same way – by becoming the poster girl for the first national campaign of its kind.

Melaine’s face will be on thousands of billboards up and down the country.

She has also confronted peers at the House of Lords over a shameful record of addressing the condition.

“Secondary breast cancer turned my world upside down,” said Melaine, who works in admin for the breast screening unit at City Hospital, in Winson Green. “But I found out about the Breast Cancer Care website and the support that is out there and realised I was not alone.