Shifting a leaking washing machine was the start of Laura Burnett’s cancer story – one she believes will firmly stay in the past.
In 2018, the morning after putting her washing machine back in place she woke up sore and feeling incredibly sick.
Within hours the Bridge of Don mum had been to see her GP and was taken into the care of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
After blood work and other tests were done, she was told she would return to hospital in December for an operation.
Fernando the melon-sized tumour
It was not until then that the C-word was mentioned. She had pancreatic cancer.
Mrs Burnett is now sharing her experience as she prepares to take part in Courage on the Catwalk to raise money and awareness of the work Friends of Anchor does.
She will join 23 other women for a fashion show in front of a sell-out crowd at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen on May 7 and 8.
The 37-year-old said: “Strangely enough it was not until the December that anyone had really mentioned the word ‘cancer’. At home we would talk about this melon-sized growth as ‘Fernando’ and then a second, tennis-ball-sized, tumour as ‘Riccardo’.
“It had probably been growing for about 15 years.
“It was much harder on my husband, Paul, who was worried. We are raising our two girls together and he just could not imagine what it would be like without me, if the worst was to happen.
“He now says he put on a brave face while I was ill.
‘My husband was always there to listen’
“But of course while he felt like that, there was always someone to listen. He was always there for me. Our families have been amazing. His parents were so good at helping us with very practical things.
“My mum is down south but she was there when we needed her.”
Mrs Burnett said her daughters, 10-year-old Catherine and Niamh, 14, have been through so much due to her illness.
“My girls were so kind, so full of empathy for me, but I know that me having cancer affected them,” the nursery practitioner added.
“The night before my operation I went ice skating with the family to the winter fayre and we did all the things you shouldn’t do on a school night. We stayed up late, ate lots of sugary things and we made memories.
‘I wrote goodbye letters’
“I wrote goodbye letters to the kids and my husband and various other people as I knew it was a big operation that may not go the way we all wanted.”
She joked: “It was very unusual for someone my age to get cancer, and it has quite a high mortality rate – so if it wasn’t for that washing machine leak it may have got much worse and too late for treatment.
“I am thankful for the small things, I am thankful for that leak.”
Mrs Burnett has now had three years without cancer, an important milestone with pancreatic cancer. She said: “I feel like the weight is finally being lifted.”
Courage on the Catwalk is a celebration of the journey the models have made, with each one having been through cancer or still receiving treatment.
It attracts a sell-out crowd each year and has raised thousands for Friends of Anchor.
Looking ahead to her catwalk debut, Mrs Burnett said: “It is scary, but you have to do something that scares you every day, don’t you?”
