A BREAST cancer survivor who raised £3,500 for cancer research said she only found a lump after a friend with cancer insisted she check herself.

Sharon Sandells, 46, a mum of three girls from Corris, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in August 2011, aged 42.

She told the Cambrian News this week how she only found a lump after a friend being treated for breast cancer asked her if she had checked herself.

Four years on, and Sharon is deli­ghted to have raised £3,500 for Breast Cancer Research Wales through a sponsored sky dive, and is appealing for help to raise more money for the charity after what she described as “the worst experience of my life”.

She said: “Six months after having a mastectomy in Llanelli, I had to endure five to six months of chemotherapy. It was the worst time of my life and I was really bad over Christmas, which was really tough for my daughters.”

Sharon said she has also been helped along the way by a “guardian angel” – a friend who works as a school assistant in Corris, Sharon Wells