LOUISE & SUKHY
‘Cancer brought us together’
‘When we finally met, we laughed all afternoon’
Following her third cancer diagnosis, Louise Daly, 49, from Windsor, knew she needed more support.
‘Iwas diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2010, when my sons were just five and two. Suddenly, I was on the treatment conveyor belt: blood tests, chemo, doctors’ appointments.
When it finished, I felt like I’d been chucked off a cliff. Friends and family couldn’t understand why I wasn’t jumping for joy, but the shock of cancer left me feeling traumatised. Sadly, it wasn’t the end of my cancer journey.
In 2018, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, then in 2020 my breast cancer returned. I felt like the unluckiest person alive. I knew this time I’d need support from the cancer community, especially as I was single and Covid meant I had to go through treatment on my own.
I joined a cancer community called Wigs for Heroes, which was running online coffee meetings throughout the pandemic. Through this, I met Sukhy Bahia. We clicked immediately. She had been diagnosed the year before and, like me, was single with young children. We soon became close, calling and texting regularly. She lives in Hayes, Middlesex, a 20-minute drive from me, so we met in person as soon as we could; we shared a big hug, then admired each other’s post-reconstructive surgery boobs and laughed all afternoon.
When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May this year, Sukhy was one of the first people I told. She was sad but said, ‘It’s greedy having cancer for the fourth time,’ and it made me laugh.
No one wants to be in the ‘cancer club’, but through it I’ve met Sukhy. I can picture us old and grey, still chuckling. And thanks to our post-reconstructive surgeries, we’ll still have great boobs.’
SUKHY, 35, SAYS: ‘I was diagnosed in December 2019, and all the usual hospital support charities soon closed because of Covid. I wanted to be in touch with people who understood what I was going through, and Louise had already been through so much. My active treatment has finished now, but I’ll be on hormone therapy for eight more years. Louise and I laugh loudly and often. It’s awful that Louise has cancer for the fourth time, but I’ll always be here for her and I know that whatever life throws at us, we’ll carry on laughing.’