TO the outside world Angelina Jolie has it all – looks, money, fame, a brood of beautiful kids and Brad Pitt by her side.

But none of this could stop the 37-year-old from losing her mum at just 56 to ovarian cancer.

So when the Tomb Raider star was told she herself had an 87 per cent chance of getting breast cancer and a 50 per cent chance of contracting ovarian cancer, she was propelled to take drastic action. For the mum-of-six, having a preventative double mastectomy was a no-brainer.

Just like Angelina, Davina knows what it’s like to live in fear of an early grave.

But the 68-year-old didn’t lose just one person she loved to the disease, she buried three – all of her sisters.

Davina, who lives in Southend, was one of the first women in the UK to have a preventive double mastectomy back in 1988. Her reasons for doing so couldn’t have been stronger.

“All three of my sisters died from breast cancer. I had no doubt I would follow down the same path,” she said.

“Then they found a lump in my breast. They told me it was benign, but I didn’t believe them.

“So as soon as the possibility of such an operation was raised, I said: ‘when can I have it – tomorrow?’ The doctors were like, ‘slow down, let’s talk about this’ but I was determined.”

Davina’s sister Shirley died at 52, Maureen at 47 and Pauline at just 35. She said: “It wasn’t even so much that my sisters died, we all die, I know that, but it was how they went. They endured chemotherapy, radiotherapy, all sorts of drugs.

“It was harrowing and gruelling. I watched as they wasted away over months and years of treatments, but still didn’t survive.

“They were all so young. It’s a devastating disease. I applaud Angelina Jolie for going public with this. She has all the money in the world and can afford the best doctors, so she’s in a good position, but never the less she’s a mum who just wants to be around for her children.

“She’s a brave lady.”

Davina had her double mastectomy at Whipps Cross Hospital in East London. At the time she was a 43-year-old mum to a young daughter. She had tragically lost her son to spina bifida when he was just five.

Wanting to be around for her daughter, Davina said she couldn’t wait to go under the knife and says she didn’t even care about getting reconstructive surgery.

She said: “The honest truth is, I didn’t care about the reconstruction. When I did get it a few months later, I was pleased and, yes, I did feel better about myself, but nothing would have stopped me from having the initial operation. In between the time of having my breasts removed and getting implants, I didn’t hide at home. I carried on with my job as a special needs assistant at the school where I was working.

“I was flat but it didn’t bother me. I felt I’d got my life back. I wasn’t living in the shadow of this cancer anymore and I certainly didn’t feel any less of a woman.

“I would say to any woman out there in the same position, get yourself checked now if you have any worries.”

Naturally Davina fears her daughter, now 40, could be at risk of cancer due to the family history.

She said: “My daughter gets checked out all the time. It’s something we’re both very aware of.

“If it comes to it, I don’t know if she would make the same decision as me – but I hope she’s never in that situation.”

Over the years Davina has campaigned for breast cancer awareness, even appearing on TV shows with the “silver fox doc” Dr Hilary Jones.

“He was gorgeous,” she said. “I was on a show with him once and he said I was very articulate. He was lovely.”

Davina now volunteers at Southend Hospital’s charity shop, in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, which is helping raise funds for the hospital’s Bosom Pals Appeal – an ongoing appeal to raise cash for lifesaving breast cancer screening equipment.

Cancer threat felt like ticking timebomb

KAY Puddick had both of her breasts removed because she was at a high risk of breast cancer.
She believes that Angelina Jolie did the right thing speaking out about her preventative double mastectomy.
Kay says: “Angelina was right to talk about it publicly. It is not an easy decision to make but when you weigh up the risks then it makes sense.


“My daughter is 14, but if she tested positive for the gene, I would advise her to have the double mastectomy. But in the end it is her decision.”


Kay, from Great Dunmow, was originally diagnosed with breast cancer in her left breast in 2000 and she went on to have a mastectomy.


After being told she had the BRCA1 gene, which meant she was very susceptible to the disease, she went onto have a second mastectomy as a preventative measure.


The disease was prevalent in Kay’s family, and the BRCA1 gene ran in the family in her father’s and mother’s family line.


Her mother, Pamela Penalver, had a double mastectomy and her maternal grandmother a single mastectomy.
Kay says: “The genealogist professor I was referred to said I had a one-in-two chance of contracting primary cancer with the BRCA gene,” said the 56-year-old
“It felt like it was a ticking time bomb to not have the second mastectomy. When the genealogist said that if it was his wife he would advise her to have it done tomorrow, that was it, I knew I had to.”


Losing her breasts did have an impact on Kay.
She says: “It does affect you emotionally. I felt like a freak, living with one breast after my first mastectomy.
“Once I had the recontructive surgery I felt better, but it is still a big operation.”
Kay is holding a charity event in aid of the Helen Rollason Cancer Charity and the British Heart Foundation at Foakes Hall, in Dunmow, on June 15, from 7pm.
Tickets – available by emailing k.puddick@btinternet.com – cost £40 in-clude a four-course meal.

Davina also volunteers at the blood clinic at Southend Hospital.

“I feel like I want to give something back,” she said.