{"id":474981,"date":"2026-05-30T16:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T16:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474981\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T16:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T16:44:12","slug":"woman-says-a-hug-from-her-mom-led-to-terrifying-breast-cancer-diagnosis-im-incredibly-lucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/474981\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Says a Hug from Her Mom Led to \u2018Terrifying\u2019 Breast Cancer Diagnosis: \u2018I\u2019m Incredibly Lucky\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

Selina Moss-Davies credits her mother’s persistence for her early breast cancer diagnosis at age 28<\/p>\n

She underwent chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and later a hysterectomy due to carrying the BRCA gene<\/p>\n

Now cancer-free for 15 years, she raises awareness through Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life events<\/p>\n

A woman is crediting a hug from her mother for leading to her breast cancer diagnosis and saving her life.<\/p>\n

In March 2011, Selina Moss-Davies \u2014 now 43 and a finance worker from Rochester, England \u2014 was just 28 when she felt a lump in her breast. She visited her general practitioner but was assured that she had nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n

Soon after, her mother, Pauline, felt the lump while hugging her and immediately pushed her to seek a second opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum would hug me and because of where the tumor was \u2014 it was quite high up on my breast \u2014 she could feel it through my t-shirt,\u201d she told Southwest News Service<\/a>. \u201cThere was nothing about it that concerned me but she actually went ahead and made an appointment without telling me. Thank God she did. I can’t think about what would have happened if my mum wasn’t this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Selina<\/p>\n

Selina and her mom Pauline
Credit: Selina Moss-Davies \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

During the appointment, Selina had the lump biopsied and the results came back soon after. It wasn’t until she was on her way back to the hospital to hear the news that she started feeling nervous. Once there, doctors informed her that the lump was an aggressive grade 3 tumor \u2014 a mass that she believes she might not have caught if it weren’t for her mother’s persistence.<\/p>\n

Selina was officially diagnosed with breast cancer. She was also told that she carried the BRCA gene, which put her at risk of developing other forms of cancer as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt panic rising. [The doctor] said it was breast cancer and I can’t even describe the feeling. It is like you have been rammed into a brick wall,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI had never heard about this gene. I remember being gobsmacked that this even existed. It terrified me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Selina<\/p>\n

Selina in the hospital during treatment
Credit: Selina Moss-Davies \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Sign up for From the Editor<\/a>, our free weekly newsletter from PEOPLE’s Editor-in-Chief, Charlotte Triggs<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very isolated,\u201d she added. \u201cI was lucky I have an incredible support network, but I felt like I was on a planet by myself watching everybody else’s lives move on while I was frozen in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selina began six rounds of chemotherapy immediately. It took a toll on her body \u2014 she lost her hair and her sense of taste, and also experienced fatigue, nosebleeds and severe bone pain.<\/p>\n

\"Selina<\/p>\n

Selina in the hospital during treatment
Credit: Selina Moss-Davies \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

\u201cChemotherapy is terrifying but I just wanted to get in there and get going as quickly as possible,\u201d she said, noting that she didn’t even have time to freeze her eggs before treatment and was \u201cheartbroken\u201d at the thought of her fertility being impacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were dark times with this where I thought I wasn’t going to survive it,\u201d she admitted. \u201cTo question your mortality at 28 is a terrible thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

After chemotherapy, Selina underwent a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Subsequent scans found no evidence of disease.<\/p>\n

She has now been cancer-free for 15 years, and was thrilled to be able to have two children \u2014 son Grayson, 9, and daughter Gia, 7 \u2014 with her husband Colin.<\/p>\n

\"Selina<\/p>\n

Selina with her family
Credit: Selina Moss-Davies \/ SWNS<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2021, Selina underwent a full hysterectomy due to the BRCA gene putting her at risk of ovarian cancer. Although there will always be concerns, she said she feels very healthy overall and praises her mother for putting her in a position to get treatment early.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is something that I will always carry with me. There is always a risk and I am very aware of that, but I have found ways to cope. I don’t allow it to impede on my day-to-day life,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was important to me to get through this with a really good life ahead of me, not just exist. I am incredibly lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Selina told the outlet that she will participate in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life event alongside her friends and family, hoping to raise awareness and funds for the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cRace for life is one of my favorite things to do. It raises lots of money for Cancer Research UK, who were at the forefront of the BRCA discovery that has changed things,\u201d she said. \u201cI campaign for this kind of work because it needs to continue. I have children and it’s important to me that the next generation are protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Selina Moss-Davies credits her mother’s persistence for her early breast cancer diagnosis at age 28…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[204879,1239,138248,71666,103,61,60,204878],"class_list":["post-474981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-brca-gene","tag-breast-cancer","tag-cancer-research-uk","tag-double-mastectomy","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-selina-moss-davies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}