Chantelle was less than three and her baby brother just six months old when their mum Marie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Marie had her left breast removed, and endured many months of chemotherapy, eventually going into remission.

But the cancer was soon back, and this time it had spread.

Marie was determined to fight. And she was determined to ‘be a mother first, and a sick person second’, according to Chantelle.

“I remember her being incredibly strong and determined. She didn’t want the cancer to get the better of her. That’s why she fought it for eight years, even though she was so sick and the treatment was so awful.

It’s hard when your mum’s in bed all day throwing up; I had to do a lot for my mum because she was so sick. She couldn’t get in the shower on her own, she couldn’t tie her shoelaces on her own. It was really, really hard.

Because I was so young, I would think, “This is not what it’s supposed to be like, my mum’s supposed to be doing these things for me”. And she did do stuff – she would always get up and make us breakfast; she would always come and tuck us in at night. It was just really hard when she was sick.

When she died I had a lot of mixed emotions. I thought, “I’m never going to laugh again”. And I wondered, who’s going to teach me about all the girl stuff? Who’s going to take me shopping and all the things that mums do? It was a very scary time.

There’s just so much stuff that I hope I’ve inherited from her. She was always determined that she was going to live to 40. That was her dream, but unfortunately she didn’t make it. She died when she was 39.”

At 19, Chantelle knows that with a mum, and also an aunt, diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age, she’s in a high risk category for the disease.

“My aunty, my mum’s sister, actually got diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks after my mum died. My aunty’s fine, she survived, but it’s definitely in the family. That’s why I am so determined that the breast cancer researchers, funded by The Cancer Council, find a cure quickly. Before I get it.”