Amanda is a mum of 2 and a teacher at Howell’s School, Llandaff. Having experienced primary breast cancer herself, she’s determined to raise awareness in and beyond the school community.
My story begins when I was at secondary school
I sat my last GCSE in the morning and that afternoon I was having 2 tumours removed from my breast. I was 16 years old.
Fortunately, these were benign, meaning they were non-cancerous tumours. However, 20 years later, I discovered more tumours in the same breast. This time they were cancerous.
My diagnosis came 7 days before Christmas. I’m a mum to 2 girls, and at the time they were 2 and 6 years old. I was also busy teaching a Year 1 class.
10 years on from my initial diagnosis, I’m able to tell my story
I underwent 6 months of treatment. This included 2 lumpectomies, an axillary lymph node clearance and 6 rounds of chemotherapy. Having a cold cap during chemo was amazing and helped me feel a bit more like me – along with pink lipstick and eyebrow pencils!
15 rounds of radiotherapy later and 10 years on from my diagnosis, I’m now generally fit and healthy – aside from getting older! Thankfully, I was proactive, detected the cancer and acted upon it. It’s a big reason for why I’m one of the 80% of women in my age range who survives breast cancer.
Why do we wear it pink? Because you can never be too young to learn about breast cancer!
At Howell’s School, Llandaff, we first took part in wear it pink in 2023. Breast cancer has affected us as a school community: over the past 10 years, we’ve seen 6 members of staff undergo treatment for breast cancer, as well as several parents and alumnae. Breast cancer appears more common, so it seemed right for us, as a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), to raise awareness.
The aim of our wear it pink campaign is to raise awareness of breast cancer
We want to empower the school community through knowledge, teach about vigilance and self-advocacy. We also want to raise money to make sure that no-one faces breast cancer alone.
We raised valuable funds by selling pink ribbon pins and bracelets during the last week of October. Then we held a wear it pink day to raise awareness, encouraging everyone to wear pink or express themselves however they liked. We also delivered special assemblies to Prep, Senior and College students aged 3 to 18.
What’s the point of being able to achieve amazing grades if you can’t identify when something’s not right with your body?
If I hadn’t experienced identifying benign lumps in my breast at the age of 16, and having them checked and removed, I might not have been so vigilant and pro-active at 37. That’s when I found lumps again, and they were cancerous.
I knew the signs and symptoms to look for, and I was brave enough to act upon my concerns and not hide away from fear. Empowering our students with confidence and knowledge is vital in sculpting life-long learners and responsible citizens. That’s why we decided to wear it pink.
We’ll continue with our wear it pink campaign again this year – the ripple effect from it has been staggering. Parents and staff thank us for being so honest and telling our real-life stories to help spread the important message of being self-aware.
A number of our GDST sister schools are also taking part in the wear it pink campaign this year, helping to raise awareness of breast cancer within our network of independent girls’ schools.
To quote one of our 6-year-old students: “Our assembly was about boobs and my mum had her boob cut off because she had cancer in it. I think she’s so amazing, she’s special!”
Wear it pink like Amanda
This October, wear pink, raise money and drive forward life-changing breast cancer research and vital support.