A BRAVE Lance Corporal who is recovering from a battle with breast cancer has spoken of her wish to see radiotherapy come to Swindon as soon as possible.

Louise Read, 34, from North Swindon, was diagnosed with the disease in January 2016.

And after friends and colleagues banded together to fundraise in her name, a cheque for £896 was last week handed to Brighter Futures.

Lou is a Lance Corporal in the 29th Regiment Royal Logistics Corps. Since being diagnosed, her friends in the forces have held a number of fundraising activities such as coffee mornings, auctions and cake sales.

Lou, knowing exactly what people diagnosed with cancer have to go through, said, passionately: “I wanted to support Brighter Futures because that hospital needs a radiotherapy centre.

“I was lucky enough to have my family to help, but what about the older people who have to do that drive every single day? It must be absolutely horrendous.”

Due to being unable to have radiotherapy treatment closer to home, Lou, originally from South Wales, chose to move in with her parents and have radiotherapy treatment at a hospital in Cardiff.

She said: “Being 30-odd years old and moving back in with my parents was strange, but I was very lucky to have my family for support.”

Lou’s story just goes to show how much people’s lives have to be altered because they do not have access to radiotherapy treatment in Swindon.

She said: “It’s so important that we bring a radiotherapy unit to Swindon to ease the burden on those who are suffering.”

Luckily, Lou has made huge strides in beating the disease.

She said: “I am getting better. I’m still going through odd bits of treatment and I’m still not 100 per cent yet. But I’ve been very lucky compared with some, and I can’t complain.”

She wanted to issue a massive thank you to everyone who has helped her throughout her treatment – to her friends and family, all her colleagues in her squadron and, specifically, staff at the GWH who have done so much to get her back on her feet.

So far £1,539,135 has been raised for Brighter Futures. The team is very grateful for every single donation and wish to thank everyone for their support.

To donate you can send cut out and send in the attached form or log on to www.brighterfuturesgwh.nhs.uk.