Cancer may have been in my life but it doesn’t have to rule it
AMUM of three young children from Widnes revealed the devastating moment she was told she had cancer – and what inspired her to pull through.
Samantha Lewis was diagnosed with breast cancer after deciding to check for lumps when her husband came out of the shower ‘holding his bits saying he’d found something’ – which turned out to be a cyst.
Following her devastating diagnosis, the 43-year-old decided to live life to the full.
First she set up an inspirational charity before winning an international beauty pageant in the aftermath of treatment for the disease.
She said: “I found a lump in my breast in August 2012.
“I only found it because my husband Andrew was getting out of the shower saying ‘I think I have got a lump’.
“His turned out to be a cyst but because he did that, I got in the shower and checked for the first time ever.
“If he hadn’t have done that I wouldn’t have checked but I did and found what felt like a frozen pea.”
Samantha, from Widnes, said she thought it could have been a lump from breast feeding her youngest son, who was just one at the time, but went to get it checked out and saw her scans, which she described as ‘looking as if someone had flicked chalk at the picture’.
The former Cowley International College teacher had to wait for two weeks after her scans to find out if she had breast cancer and explained this was ‘the most heartbreaking time’.
She said: “I had three young children at the time and it was like waiting to find out if I would see them grow up or not, to see if they have kids and thinking that my one-year-old would never even know me.
“I will never forget those two weeks but we went back and were told I had cancer and myself and my husband had a bit of a breakdown. “I never expected it to happen to me.” Samantha, who is mum to three children now aged six, nine and 13, said at this point she thought it was time to get up and fight – an attitude she thanks her background in fitness instructing and judo teaching for.
She said: “I thought to myself about the cancer; ‘you think you can take me away from my kids? Let’s do this’ and the fighting spirit kicked in quickly, luckily.”
From there Samantha began to look for support while going through chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a mastectomy.
After feeling like she might only have months to live, Samantha was inspired to ‘make the most of everyday’ and kick off a bucket list – getting a tattoo, learning a language and also starting her own cancer support group – Sam’s Diamonds.
There are now 130 women who are part of the St Helens-registered charity, which accepts people with any form of cancer, who Sam and her colleagues at the organisation support and work with to help any problems they may have with their diagnosis.
The group is also about educating women regarding fitness and nutrition with programmes such as ‘cancer to dancer’ and ‘sparkle and glitter with an aim to get fitter’.
Samantha set up a catwalk event last year to ‘help her diamonds feel beautiful again’ – treating them to a spa morning and makeover before a fashion show – because she said ‘self-esteem goes through the floor during treatment for cancer diagnosis’
During the show she saw one of her co-organisers, beauty pageant queen Kirsty Hornby, posing for cameras and said she was inspired to try out a pageant for herself after feeling like a hypocrite encouraging the women in her charity to step out of their comfort zone but not doing so herself.
Samantha added: “I went off to find a pageant nobody knows about – I just thought I wasn’t beautiful enough to do that.
“I didn’t know anything about them but I nearly chickened out so went for the next one on which was Miss British Empire
“It turns out it was a huge event but I came second.
“I started thinking then how ● amazing it would be to win a title and show the women in the group that just because cancer has been in your life doesn’t mean it has to rule your life and if someone with one breast and a fat arm can win then you can do anything.”
Samantha then went for a pageant in Widnes before trying out for Mrs Elite Global Earth and winning.
Coming first in that competition means she will now go to Las Vegas in June to take to the stage once again and promote Sam’s Diamonds worldwide.
She said: “I think I am the first UK pageant queen to have gone through cancer.
“To me it is showing the girls that you are beautiful for what you do, not just what you look like – it’s the beauty inside.”
To become involved with or become one of Sam’s Diamonds visit: www.samsdiamonds.org.uk
Groups are run in South Liverpool, St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Warrington, Wigan and Nantwich.
Samantha also appealed to anyone who could possibly help to support her charity or raise much-needed funds for the organisation to get in touch via her website. ●