Sheffield student diagnosed with cancer after finding a lump on Christmas Day gets all clear

Amy was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in early 2020 and underwent six months of treatment during the pandemic.

Amy Bradbury, a 21 year old film studies student at Sheffield Hallam University, found a lump in her neck on Christmas Day 2020 and was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma weeks later.

She underwent six months of chemotherapy at a time when lockdown or social distancing rules were in place, meaning that she could not easily access her friends and family for support.

Amy left her job to start treatment and her boyfriend, Jacob, couldn’t work because Amy was vulnerable to Covid-19 and he could not risk catching the virus.

Amy said: “The month between finding the lump in my neck and being diagnosed was almost impossible to cope with. Nothing was certain.

“After the initial horror of the diagnosis, I felt a huge amount of relief when I finally had an answer. I knew what I had to do to get better. There are truly no words to describe chemotherapy, it affected me differently every single day.

“But you just have to put yourself in survival mode to pull yourself through it. I just thought of it as medicine and tried to focus on the fact that even though chemo made me feel awful, it was actually making me better.”

Living in Sheffield meant that Amy benefitted from the support of Weston Park Cancer Charity. Through charity-funded café trips, Amy could speak with other young cancer patients during her treatment in a relaxed, safe, outdoor setting – crucial social interaction which was impossible during lockdown.

Amy added: “If you can be ill anywhere, be ill in Sheffield. From the moment I met Leah and Kayleigh (the friends I met through the café trips), my whole experience changed for the better as I had others who I could talk to without the worry of them not understanding me or my situation.”

Amy was recently given the all-clear and nearly a year on from her diagnosis, she and Jacob are now starting to pick their lives back up. Amy is back at work and graduated from university earlier this year, with Jacob also able to return to work after shielding ended and Amy had completed her treatment.

To leave a Christmas message in celebration, hope or remembrance online, visit https://www.westonpark.org.uk/christmas-star-appeal.