Colleen

At 53, Colleen was having regular mammograms and skin checks, and "doing all the right things," she says, when "ovarian cancer sneaked up and got me."

A librarian, Colleen hit the Internet straight away to get the facts about her disease. "I felt it was unfair. It was very surreal. I'd cry in the shower so no-one could see me."

Her tumor was the size of an eight-month-old foetus. Fortunately, surgery entirely removed the cancer, and Colleen then underwent three cycles of chemotherapy to ensure it wouldn't spread.

Now in remission, Colleen delights in every precious second with her husband ("my best friend") and their four beautiful daughters, their son-in-law and a one-year-old grandson.

"It's very important in life to have little rainbows along the way," she says.

Please donate generously to give us more inspiring stories like this one to tell >>