Model Marie Helvin reveals she had a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer
Marie Helvin says her new breasts will “never be perfect” but it’s “beautiful because it saved my life” after revealing she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy remove the breast.
The model, who has been married to famed fashion photographer David Bailey for a decade, said she didn’t think cancer could happen to her because she always kept herself fit and healthy.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, she said: “I have a vision, an idea of myself, I think, how healthy and fit I am. As a model, my body is my tool and I always take care of it.
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Former Vogue cover model Marie Helvin (Philip Toscano/PA)
“I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I exercise every day, so I guess that makes me think something like this can’t happen to me because I don’t fit the profile.
“Now I know how much trash that is. It made me realize that appearances are deceiving.”
The 70-year-old said she should have known better as she has been involved in many breast cancer awareness campaigns over the years.
She said: “You think I would know better, because I already have a lot of experience in the field of charity. But I never really thought that this could happen to me.
“Sometimes I just sit in bed and cry for no reason. Even after all, there’s still a part of me that can’t believe it happened. No one could explain to me why it did. It’s just one of those things.”
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Marie Helvin models a corset-style shirt made from Race for Life signs to urge women across the UK to sign up for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life (Research). Cancer Research UK/PA)
The model said her mother’s previous experience with breast cancer helped her calm down after discovering she would need a mastectomy.
“I was determined not to panic,” she said. It was helpful when I helped care for my mother through breast cancer in the 1980s, returning to Hawaii for a month to care for her.
“So I saw what it looked like and what she went through, but she also made it through and survived another 25 years. So of course I was scared, but not as scared as someone who had never witnessed anyone go through that.
“I chose to trust the system and myself.”
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https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/model-marie-helvin-reveals-she-had-mastectomy-after-breast-cancer-diagnosis-42210050.html Model Marie Helvin reveals she had a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer