In December 2020, I went to my local GP regarding a lump I had found in my right breast. I was told a referral would be made to the breast clinic but as I was only 28 and under the age of 30, with no family history of breast cancer, I didn't meet the criteria for the emergency 2 week wait. Hideous.

After a week I discovered a second lump under my right arm. I again contacted my GP to see if we could speed the referral up, in which I was told there was nothing that could be done and I would have to wait for an appointment. Another week passed so I began to ring around the hospitals myself to chase the appointment. I had no luck and again was told to wait until an appointment came through the post!

Fortunately I had insurance and my husband pushed me to use it to go private.

On the 7th of January 2021, I had my first consultation at Spire Hospital. I had an ultrasound scan and 3 biopsys taken. I was told the worst news, which was they were pretty certain this was breast cancer.

A week later on the 14th of January I had the results of my biopsy. I was diagnosed with stage 3 ductal carcinoma. Breast cancer. From there on everything went really quick. I had a mastectomy and lymphnode clearance on the 6th of Feb. The results of this showed I actually had 4 tumours in my breast and 5 out of 19 lymphnodes were cancerous too.

I have under gone operations, months of chemotherapy, weeks of radiotherapy and I'm still not done! We also discovered I have the BRCA2 gene!!

So my petition is simple.... allow everyone to be treated the same! Why should it matter if you're under 30? This needs to change. Had I have not gone private, this could have been a very different and devastating story. I have a 3 and 4 year old to care for and they could have easily lost their mummy this year, all because I am under 30!

This "criteria" needs scrapping and younger adults need to be heard when they voice their concerns! Scrap the under 30 rule!!! My cancer is an aggressive type due to the braca2 gene. By the time I had an appointment through for an NHS appointment it was the end of January. A week before I was due my 1st operation to remove the cancer!!

SCRAP THE CRITERIA, SCRAP THE UNDER 30 GUIDE AND LET EVERYONE BE TREAT THE SAME!!!