Loose Women’s Brenda Edwards on heartbreaking lesson she learnt when orphaned age 4
Loose Women's Brenda Edwards has opened up to OK! in an emotional interview about her past and the trauma she's been through - including cancer and devastating loss. Brenda reflected on her past experience of breast cancer as she seeks to raise awareness of secondary cancers and she explained the trauma of her past helped her to deal with the diagnosis back in 2016 after she found a lump.
Brenda's parents tragically passed away in a car accident when she was four years old and this horrific event has taught her to become "resilient" and she said "cancer knocked on the wrong door."
“I’ve had a lot of tragedy in my life and you kind of learn to be resilient,” Brenda told us.
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“Because both of my parents died when I was so young, so I was determined not to let my children be orphaned. I always said that I wanted to get past the age that my parents were, because they were very young — 27 and 25 — so it just wasn’t an option for me. Cancer knocked on the wrong door.”
Thankfully, Brenda - who is working with GenesisCare — the UK’s leading specialist cancer care provider to raise awareness of secondary cancers - was able to get her cancer treated and had six months of chemotherapy as well as a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
While Brenda didn’t have a secondary spread of the disease, she wants to use her platform to make others aware of the symptoms and has bravely taken part in a special exhibition which showcases the parts of the body where secondary cancers are most likely to occur.
“I have to admit, I fell into that category myself, of not being aware of where in the body cancer can spread,” she said. “It’s the last thing people are thinking of when you’re going through breast cancer and the treatment of chemotherapy or radiotherapy or the operations, and secondary cancer is the last thing on your mind.
“And that’s what’s so beautiful about this exhibition. It’s very emotive, but it’s showing the body parts that can be affected [through photography]. So, for example, the bones can be affected, so a symptom is backache. Also the brain can be affected, you can suffer from headaches, and with your lungs, there’s someone holding their chest and coughing. It’s a powerful exhibition and a picture speaks a thousand words. It’s about raising awareness, which is something very important to me.”
When we ask what advice she would give to anyone facing or going through cancer, Brenda’s message is positive.
“Just go to your GP straight away,” she said. “You owe it to yourself to take action. As scary as it is, you’ve got a much better chance of survival if it’s caught early.
“Please don’t be scared to have that conversation. If you’re not having a conversation with your GP, have a conversation with someone in your family or a friend and I guarantee that person will say the same thing I’m saying. Get yourself checked out and get rid of the fear.”
Brenda Edwards is fronting the new GenesisCare Second Chance campaign which aims to raise awareness of where in the body secondary cancer is most likely to strike and the symptoms to look out for. Visit https://www.genesiscare.com/uk/second-chance for more information.
