Nina shares her future moment in the Gallery of Hope, a photography exhibition made in collaboration with people living with incurable secondary breast cancer.
It’s spring 2025. My daughter’s now a teenager and we’re on the dream holiday in Japan that we’ve always talked about. We’re walking the streets in beautiful, traditional outfits, surrounded by cherry blossom trees.
Originally from Lisbon, Portugal, Nina lives in South London with her daughter, Ilani. A natural creative spirit, Nina worked in the fashion industry. This started with training in Savile Row, where she fell in love with the skill and craftsmanship of tailoring iconic pieces. Her career took off, even taking her to Hong Kong where she lived and worked for a year, before eventually becoming head of menswear for a supplier to major high street stores.
In 2021, Nina was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer and was, in effect, given just 3 months to live. But she managed to get on a clinical trial, partly funded by Breast Cancer Now, which has proven to be very effective. Since then she’s been on safari in Kenya with her daughter, hiked across the Sahara, continues to dance her traditional Kizomba dance and has embarked on a new career as a model, which scratches her creative itch. Nina refuses to live in fear and is constantly setting herself goals to reach. She is keen to encourage others from the African community to consider applying to clinical trials, something she very nearly didn’t do but is now immensely glad of.
Nina's story
What research are we doing into secondary breast cancer?
Secondary breast cancer occurs when breast cancer cells spread from the first (primary) cancer in the breast, through the lymphatic or blood system, to other parts of the body.
Our researchers are here working to buy more time for people with secondary breast cancer.
