“A lamb saved my life!”
Belinda thanks a sharp kick for revealing a shocking diagnosis
Far out, that really hurt,” Belinda Tongue shrieked as she was knocked to the ground by a lamb. lam It wasn’t the first ac accident she’d had on her and her husband’s hu farm in Nundle, NSW, NS but a few weeks later, st still bruised and in pain, Beli Belinda took a trip to the doc doctor. The 52-year-o 52-year-old was sent to get a mamm mammogram, and soon after was diagnosed with breast can cancer. “It felt like a death sentence,” Belinda Be says through tea tears. “I kept thinking I’v I’ve got an amazing husband and a beautiful beautif daughter, how will I ever say goodbye to them?” But despite des the bleak prognosis, the mum-ofone to Sophi Sophie, 17, stayed strong. Within a few weeks, she was living with her own mum in Sydney and recovering from a double mastectomy where her lymph nodes were also removed. rem She then endured seven months of chemotherapy and radiation. “I used to sit with my friends during chemo, drink coffee and just laugh. We tried to keep the mood light,” Belinda says of her attitude a during g a difficult time.
However, part way through her treatment, Belinda faced a massive hurdle.
“One day, after chemo, half of me went numb and I couldn’t feel my leg or arm,” she explains. “We knew I was having a stroke, so my husband threw me in the car and raced me to the hospital where they discovered a small, non-malignant tumour on the back of my skull. I remember thinking, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’”
A year after finishing treatment for her breast cancer, Belinda underwent brain surgery. She couldn’t be more thankful of her small town of 300 residents, who provided endless support.
“Even people I’d never met were cooking for my husband Phil and daughter Sophie while I was recovering in Sydney,” she says. “I’ve made so many new friends and we’re so blessed to live in such a great community.”
Celebrating five years cancer-free at the beginning of this year, y Belinda took a leap of faith – she quit her job as an admin manager and started a “grown-up gap year”.
She’s now lost 20kg, participated in the Seven Bridges Walk fundraising challenge and is happier than ever. “I’ve learned not n to sweat the small things,” t she says.
‘I used to sit with my friends during chemo and just laugh’