A WOMAN who has overcome breast cancer is urging people to keep faith as she prepares to take on the Race for Life.

Sue Steele, from Kirkby, has teamed up with her colleagues from the Tesco store in Millom in a bid to raise £1000 for Cancer Research.

Four years ago, Mrs Steele was dealt a devastating blow when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

After seeing close family members already pass away from the disease, Mrs Steele was shocked to discover she, too, had to battle for her life.

She said: “It was a shock but I never thought for one moment I was going to die.

"You’ve just got to be positive but a lot of people who are diagnosed think it’s the end of the road.”

Determined not to let her cancer win, Mrs Steele put on a brave face and continued her daily life without drawing any attention to her condition.

She said: “Nobody knew. I got a wig like my own hair as soon as I could and nobody knew I had lost my own hair.

“I didn’t want to be a victim. People automatically think you’re going to die when you’ve got cancer but a lot of people get well now.”

Mrs Steele is one of the growing number of people who are defying the disease and is hoping to give something back by leading this year’s Race for Life team, in Carlisle, on July 10.

A group of around eight people from the Millom store will be taking part in the race, an event Tesco has continued to support for a number of years.

Maxine Lawford, community champion for Tesco in Millom, says the response is always fantastic.

She said: “Everybody sponsors us in store. We’re a very community-minded store.

"We raised £2500 last year alone for our national charities, Diabetes UK and British Heart Foundation.

“We’re hoping to raise about £1,000 from the Race for Life.”

Having run the course several times already, Mrs Steele is delighted to be able to make a difference to the thousands of people who are only just beginning their journey.

She said: “I’m doing it to help people. I needed that help myself once and I just want to give back what I’ve had.

“You never think you’re going to get cancer but there are a lot of people who do - one in three.

"The money we raise is going to help that if we band together and fight it.”

Friends and colleagues have praised Mrs Steele as an inspirational source of strength, an attribute she believes got her through her ordeal.

She said: “The doctors used to say they couldn’t believe how well I looked - I must have been lucky but I think my mindset helped.

“I was expecting all these terrible things to happen to me but they didn’t.

“You just have to stay positive and you will come through the other side.”

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