Women are baring all to support colleague with cancer
FRIENDS from the Valleys are baring all ahead of the New Year to honour a much-loved colleague diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Tracey Hill, 54, was told she had ovarian cancer in 2009.
Despite monitoring the illness for years, in 2017 she was told it was terminal with the cancer having spread to the bowel and lymph nodes.
Ever since then she has vowed to live life to the full, and one of the latest ways she plans to do this is to get her kit off to raise money for charity.
Together with her colleagues at Dewis Centre for Independent Living in Upper Boat, Pontypridd, Tracey has helped produce a nude calendar for 2020.
The mum of two, who works as an independent advocate for the disability organisation, hopes sales of the calendar will raise plenty of cash for Macmillan Cancer Support and Blind Dog Rescue UK – two charities that are very close to her heart.
Speaking about her diagnosis, Tracey, from Aberdare, said: “It’s never gone away but it had been stable for a while.
“About two years ago it started to grow and I had chemotherapy. I’m still having that now.”
She was first diagnosed when she had been to Mexico with her partner. She noticed a rash on her stomach and later visited the doctor.
“I started putting on weight,” she added. “I went to the doctor and he noticed the swelling on my stomach.
“The rash was nothing but he noticed my stomach was bloated.”
Tracey was later given the devastating news that she had ovarian cancer and started undergoing chemotherapy.
She said the type of cancer she has is “slow-growing”.
“It’s just there,” she added. “I keep on having my appointments every three months and regular blood checks.
“It’s just maintaining it. I’ve had the prognosis – chemotherapy will be
Tracey Hill, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2017, with her colleague Mari Ropstad in one of the pictures for her charity calendar. Below inset, another shot from the calendar with workers from Dewis ongoing until the end really to make sure I can live life to the full.
“I never wanted to be a cancer victim. When I was told my cancer was terminal I was determined to live for whatever time I had left. Doing a calendar like this has always been something I wanted to do and it seemed like a great way to show cancer where to go.
“Life is too short to worry about what you look like and we had such a laugh doing these photoshoots. We’ve also managed to produce the calendar without incurring any expenses thanks to some brilliant support from other people and companies. So every penny of the sales will go to these two charitable causes.”
The friends decided to put together a bucket list.
One of the items on it was the calendar and, despite thinking it would never actually happen, it finally has.
More than anything, Tracey is so grateful to her colleagues and children, who have been so supportive throughout everything.
They even managed to take all the pictures between them, with a little help from people close to them, like her daughter.
Tracey said: “We had such a laugh doing it. It’s not just my calendar – it’s everybody’s calendar. It’s everybody’s bucket list.”
Lynne Herbert, CEO of Dewis CIL, added: “Tracey is one of those people whose zest for life and for fun is so contagious that you find yourself agreeing to her suggestions so that you can be a part of it.
“It is testament to her fun and engaging personality and her compassion for others, which led to so many of the staff willingly joining her in this project.”
■ The calendar can be ordered at www.dewiscil.org.uk/forms/calendar-orderform or by contacting Dewis CIL on 01443 827 930. It costs £7.50 plus £2 p&p.