Borough Life Autum 2006: Support is as easy as ABC
You're not alone... Adele Wilkes (front left) and members of Ashton Breast Cancer Support. The group welcomes new members from anywhere in the borough.
TWO years ago Adele Wilkes received the news that every woman must dread.
Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of just 36, the mother of two from Bryn was left reeling. “It was a real shock at first,” she says. “I looked after myself, didn’t smoke and tried to live a healthy life, so the first question I asked myself was: Where Did I Go Wrong?
“But you quickly realise that cancer doesn’t discriminate, it can affect anyone.”
Adele admits that at the time she believed her life was over.
“My biggest worry wasn’t for myself but for my family,” she says. “I honestly thought about what was going to happen when I wasn’t here.”
Faced with such thoughts and feelings Adele admits that it would have been easy to just give up.
But the initial despair was to quickly turn to determination for Adele, who decided that she could put her experience to good use and help other women in the same situation.
And so the idea was born for Ashton Breast Cancer Support, or ABC for short, was born.
“I was sure there must be lots of other women in a similar situation to me, all with lots of unanswered questions or who needed the support of others who were in the same situation,” says Adele. “There are other groups like this in Wigan and Leigh and I wanted to establish something that would complement the great work they do.”
Adele’s initial intention was to target the group specifically at younger women.
“I suppose the typical view is that it is something that affects women in later life and I’m sure there are lots of younger women who put off even thinking about what they may have to go through,” she says. “But thankfully this is beginning to change.
“Recently we have seen Kylie Minogue talking very publicly about her experiences after being diagnosed with breast cancer and I think when someone as high profile as her who is a role model to many young people can be so open about it, it is very encouraging.”
Adele quickly realised that the scope of ABC needed to include everyone whose life has in some way been touched by the disease.
“We came to realise that we needed to be there for anyone who needed our help and support, not just specific groups or age ranges,” she says.
“So we are looking not just at the women who have been diagnosed, but my husband Gary is also working with ABC to encourage husbands, partners, friends and family members to get involved.
“For the future we are also looking to do things like go into schools and speak to girls about breast cancer awareness. Hopefully by listening to our experiences and asking questions they can learn more about breast cancer and how to guard against it, rather than just not thinking about it.”
ABC recently had its first successful meeting at Ashton Town Hall and will now meet there at 7pm on the third Tuesday of every month. The next meeting is on September 19th.
Adele adds: “We want to look at the serious issues surrounding breast cancer, but we also want to look at quality of life issues for group members. So we will be putting on things such as aromatherapy, massage, reiki healing and other holistic therapies aimed at getting people more relaxed. Basically, whatever the group members want to do or want to try and find more about, we will try and provide.
“We would welcome any and all new members, not just from Ashton and Bryn, but from anywhere in the borough and I think the message we’d like to get out is that when you’re facing something like breast cancer, you don’t have to do it alone.”
- For more information about Ashton Breast Cancer Support you can contact Adele Wilkes on 07980 408684, or email adelewilkes35@hotmail.com