Love Isle star Abi gets the check-it-out habit
FOLLOWING Princess Kate’s moving video message revealing her cancer battle, the disease is very much at the forefront of all our minds.
When Love Island star Abi Moores found out her much-loved auntie Catherine Parker had been diagnosed with breast cancer it left her in shock.
She says: “She went in for a mammogram screening in her fifties. Then she was told they had found a ‘mass’.
“A biopsy came back showing that it was positive for breast cancer.”
Fortunately, the doctors caught the cancer early.
Abi, a contestant on the ITV2 show last year, explains: “Thankfully my auntie didn’t have to have chemotherapy, she had a course of radiotherapy which was really non-invasive.”
Threat
But it made the 26-year-old realise the threat from the disease – and the importance of regularly examining her own breasts.
Abi says: “Before my auntie’s experience I didn’t check – I never even thought to do it. It made me aware that it can happen to anyone.
“I do it in the shower or when I’m moisturising. I’ve got two younger sisters, and they didn’t check before either, and, as I’ve also got a lot of young women who follow me on social media, I want to urge them that this is something really important – you should be checking.”
Now flight attendant Abi is going to be joining her auntie – who has been in remission for nine years – on a 10-mile charity walk for UK charity Breast Cancer Now, to raise funds for vital research to fight the disease.
The Pink Ribbon Walk takes place at Hampton Court Palace in London on April 28.
Abi says: “I’m really close to my auntie and she’s my main reason for being so passionate about wanting to raise awareness about breast cancer. “My mum’s best friend, who has had breast cancer, is another person that I’m close to and will hopefully be joining us as well.
“Each year, around 55,000 women in the UK [and more than 3,400 in Ireland] are diagnosed with breast cancer, so it affects a lot of people.”
Shape
Walking is one of the activities that Abi already does regularly to stay in shape. She says: “I have a labrador called Timmy that I take for a walk every day.
“I’m quite sporty – fitness is important to me. I used to horse ride, and I like being outdoors and I want to do a half marathon, so I’m training for that now. I go to the gym three times a week to do a walk and a run on the treadmill to build up my strength.”
Abi also makes sure she eats and drinks well. She explains: “I have a very balanced diet. I will go out and have big meals and I’ll eat a burger, but I’m not careless. “I don’t smoke, and I don’t drink excessively. For breakfast I’d normally have a piece of toast and scrambled eggs, something like a tuna salad for lunch and a Thai curry for dinner. My guilty pleasure would be digestive biscuits.”
As well as campaigning on breast cancer, Abi has already battled one difficult health condition.
She explains: “When I was 14, I was diagnosed with scoliosis – curvature of the spine. I had pain-killing injections in my back and then physio to try and straighten it up again.
“I’ve managed to do it through physio although it’s not fully corrected.”
And the Love Island star added: “There will always be a curvature there and my back does look a little bit wonky.”