REAL LIFE: BORN SURVIVOR - Ive cheated death twice

Iwas lying on a beautiful beach in Thailand, slathering suntan lotion onto my legs and thinking that life wasnt too bad at all. I had been stressed when I left London in August 2003 after splitting up with my boyfriend, but an incredible three months travelling through south- east Asia had given me a new zest for life.

As I rubbed in the lotion, however, I discovered a wart-like lump on my right calf. I presumed it was an infected mosquito bite, so I just kept it covered and forgot about it. When I got home, I wanted to show off my tanned legs so I made an appointment with my doctor to get the ugly-looking spot removed. I visited the family GP, who removed the lump and carried out tests, while I got on with boring friends and family with tales of my travels.

I wasnt even slightly worried, but a week later one phone call from my doctor sent my world crashing down. I have your test results here, Rachel. I am sorry to have to tell you this over the phone His voice had dropped. I felt weak. Yes, what is it? I asked. The words choked out of my increasingly tight throat.

Im really sorry, he said, but you have a malignant melanoma.

My sister, Mel, worked for Cancer Research at the time, so I knew this was the rarest and most serious form of skin cancer. It is very unpredictable and can spread like wildfire around the body to other organs. I was deeply shocked I couldnt believe it was really happening. It just didnt sink in. I was referred to hospital immediately and had to wait an entire month before the date of my operation arrived. It felt like a lifetime. A gorgeous Irish surgeon gouged a hole out of my right calf, removing the growth and what felt like half my leg with it. I hoped that was the end, but it wasnt.

In December 2003, doctors discovered the cancer had spread to my right groin. I was terrified. My parents were distraught, but tried to stay strong for my sake. It was such a shame the news came so close to Christmas no one felt like celebrating the festive season that year. I was told I had a 69% chance of living another 10 years pretty low odds for someone my age.

The next few months were a blur. I had 19 lymph nodes removed from my groin and my chest was covered in holes where Id had potentially cancerous moles cut out. My groin kept filling with fluid the doctors drained seven litres in total. Wearing trousers was a nightmare, I looked like a well-endowed man and tried everything to flatten the bulge, even wearing an array of hideous, tight-fitting cycling shorts. I was a horrible sight, walking around on crutches with several tubes and bottles attached to my leg.

And then in the new year I was struck by yet more bad news, when a routine scan in January 2004 showed up another tumour in my neck. A specialist discovered it was thyroid cancer and in early March 2004 I went back into hospital, facing surgery for the third time. I had an eight-hour operation to remove a tumour from my neck. They slit me ear to ear and removed my thyroid gland and all the lymph nodes in my neck, before fixing my neck back together with 40 staples. When I woke up I asked my mum to hold a mirror up to my face. She agreed, but I could see her hands shaking as she gripped the sides of the mirror, fighting back the tears. I was shocked to see my swollen, bruised face and raw neck held together by metal staples. I looked like I had been mauled. The strain of the last few months engulfed me as I lay paralysed by pain in my hospital bed. I had reached my lowest ebb. All I could do was weep I was so stiff I could barely move and I didnt want to see anyone.

In April, I was admitted into an isolation unit to be blasted with radio- iodine treatment, the procedure used to try to eradicate the remaining thyroid cancer cells from the body.

I spent the following months adjusting to life on the thyroid replacement hormone thyroxine. I went through spells of feeling tired and fuzzy in the head. My parents took me home to Newcastle and, determined to regain my health, I concentrated on doing yoga, meditating, and juicing everything in sight.

I slowly began to emerge from the depression which had consumed my once bubbly character. I knew I was getting better when I began to worry less about dying and more about whether Id ever have another boyfriend. In August 2004, nearly a year after Id been diagnosed, I went to a music festival where I met Dave, 36, who works in sales. We clicked straight away the mutual attraction was electric. We moved in together in April of this year and its going really well. Hes been very supportive and makes me laugh every day. Dave didnt know me when I was ill, which is refreshing. He didnt see me in those awful cycling shorts or hospital nighties. Meeting him proved to me that things were finally on the up I hadnt expected to meet anyone. I was covered in scars and aware that I might not survive the next five years, but, armed with a new-found confidence, I set myself some goals: finding a new job and going back to the gym.

But there was one more thing I wanted to do. I decided to climb Kilimanjaro, Africas highest mountain, to raise money for charity. I underwent a gruelling fitness regime to rebuild my strength I started running, going to the gym and attending different fitness classes, before travelling out to Africa in July this year.

The climb was harder than I imagined and I considered turning back at times. Halfway up the mountain it was already 20C and I felt exhausted. I didnt think Id make it. When we reached the summit after nine days of torture I burst into tears, I was so blown away. We raised pounds 15,000 for three different charities, Butterfly and the Cobalt Appeal Fund, both cancer charities, and the Tanzanian School Project, as we wanted to give something back to the area at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

I got the all-clear from the thyroid cancer last November, but it will be five years before I have the all-clear for the melanoma. However, Ive learned not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the time Ive got. I have gained a lot through this terrible experience Ive got wonderful friends and family, an amazing boyfriend and Im still alive.

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