With the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day coming up, Síle Nic Suibhne recalls the day a mammogram changed her life – and how the disease has devastated her family
Síle Nic Suibhne at Rosses Point in Sligo. Photo: Brian Farrell
Síle Nic Suibhne had her first mammogram in 2013, almost two years before she turned 50 as there was a family history of the disease – her older sister Kathleen had already gone through breast cancer. In 2015, Síle was due to have her second mammogram with BreastCheck, the national breast screening programme.
“Everything was hunky dory [with the first mammogram], results were fine, so when the BreastCheck letter dropped in my letterbox in the February after my 50th, I didn’t even think twice about not going,” recalls Síle, who works as a Special Needs Assistant (SNA) in Sligo.