Bearing up to her cancer diagnosis
JULIA BRADBURY: BREAST CANCER AND ME
STV, 9pm “WHEN you hear the words, ‘You’ve got cancer’, your world stops. It is like moving instantly into slow motion.”
Julia Bradbury was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and was left feeling helpless and alone.
The former Countryfile presenter, 51, says: “I thought ‘s***, OK’, and then it was ‘I’ve got to live. I need to be here, I want to be here’.”
Julia, who has a 10-year-old son, Zephyrus, and seven-year-old twin girls Xanthe and Zena, says telling her children she had cancer was one of the toughest moments she had faced in her life.
Tonight’s candid film tells the story of Julia’s battle with cancer, from coming to terms with the news, to her preparations for a potentially lifesaving single mastectomy.
She keeps her own personal video diary in the run-up to her operation and speaks to experts and families in similar situations.
We also hear from her immediate family, including her parents, both of whom are cancer survivors.
Her mother Chrissie says: “When she told us she had been diagnosed, I was shell-shocked.”
Julia says: “I wanted to make this documentary to spread awareness about this pervasive disease that now affects one in seven women.
“There was so much I didn’t know about breast cancer before my diagnosis and I hope this helps highlight the complexities of our individual cases, as well as exploring some of the incredible support networks that are out there.
“The impact of a cancer diagnosis goes way beyond the initial devastating news, and the ripple effect on those close to you is crushing.”