A FORMER Daily Echo journalist has finished treatment after being diagnosed with Stage 3 triple negative breast cancer before Christmas last year.

Kate Taylor, who now works as a content editor at ITV Meridian, has undergone surgery, six gruelling rounds of chemotherapy followed by four weeks of radiotherapy at University Hospital Southampton.

Now, the mum-of-two will be leading that charge at a brand new charity walk to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

The 53-year-old, who lives with her family in Southampton, said: “I felt a lump in my breast around September last year - I routinely check every month – but I ignored it initially thinking it must be a cyst.

"I’d had a clear mammogram 16 months earlier so didn’t think for a minute it could be anything sinister.

“Over the next few weeks I felt it every night and was convinced it was getting bigger. Within a month it seemed to blow right up and my partner Phil, told me to see my doctor who referred me to hospital for tests.

“Two biopsies later I was diagnosed and was booked in for surgery to remove what the surgeon said was a peanut-sized tumour, although it felt more like a ping pong ball to me.”

She added: “I was terrified.

"By the time I was on the trolley in theatre I was ready to run, but I had a kind anaesthetic nurse who kept gently telling me to lie down.

"The surgery went perfectly and the tumour and some lymph nodes were removed.”

Kate began chemotherapy in March, opting to try and preserve her hair by using the cold cap.

When that finished – and after two admissions to hospital with infections – she began a course of radiotherapy on her 53rd birthday.

Now, Kate will be the VIP starting the new event from Guildhall Square.

People of all ages are being invited to take part in the charity’s Shine Night Walk, which will take place for the first time in the city on Saturday September 7.

More than 600 people have already signed up to the 10k walking event will see men, women and children uniting through light to raise money for life-saving research.

Organisers are hoping to raise £50,000 on the night.