Scotland footballer Jen Beattie has revealed she has been receiving treatment for breast cancer.
The 29-year-old Arsenal defender – whose dad John is a former Scotland and British Lions rugby star, and now a BBC Radio Scotland presenter – told how she asked doctors if she was going to die after finding a lump.
Jen had surgery to remove the tumour but has continued to play for club and country.She scored in a 5-0 win over Brighton in the Women’s Super League three days after being told she had the illness.
Speaking to help raise awareness of breast cancer in younger women, Jen told how she could not believe the diagnosis at first because of her healthy lifestyle.
She said: “I found a lump in my breast. I check them quite regularly but something felt a little bit different. After various tests, I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the start of October.
“It caught me completely off guard. You automatically think the worst. I asked the question, ‘Am I going to die?’
“I went to appointments by myself. To be told the diagnosis in a room with no one there was tough.
“I live a healthy lifestyle. I’m a professional sports-person, yet something like this can still happen.
“That was one of the main reasons I wanted to talk about it. I needed to normalise the conversation and say the words ‘tumour’ and ‘cancer’.
“As you start talking about it, you realise how common it is and that these kinds of things need to be shared. I want to spread the message to get checked. Whether you’re 29 or 79, you might have to deal with it at some point.”
After surgery, Jen was told the cancer had not spread and she would not need chemotherapy. She is now undergoing radiotherapy and hopes to continue playing throughout her treatment.
Jen, who has 130 caps for Scotland, said her family, friends and Arsenal team-mates got her through the ordeal.
She told BBC One’s Football Focus programme yesterday: “When I heard it had not spread to the lymph nodes, that was a turning point. I felt I could get through it.
“The girls at Arsenal were unbelievable. I got diagnosed on a Thursday night, played that weekend against Brighton and scored. The celebration of that goal sums up the whole experience.”
Jen posted a photo on social media of the Scotland team that played Portugal in a Euro qualifier in Lisbon last month. She wrote: “After the game, I got my shirt signed. That cap means more to me now than any other – it’s the one I earned after beating cancer.”
Scotland captain Rachel Corsie tweeted: “Brave, courageous and resilient. We love you.”
International team-mate Leeann Crichton said: “I think it’s incredible that she’s spoken out.”
