A MOTHER and her family who have been devastated by cancer will be treated to a Christmas to remember.
Karen Gleave and her relatives have scooped dozens of prizes after winning the seasonal Christmas Angel Family competition, run by The Mall Blackburn and the Lancashire Telegraph.
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Her sister, Julie, died of breast cancer two years ago, at the age of just 43, and now Karen has been diagnosed with the disease.
But she and her relatives have shown incredible resolve to stay positive and try to come through the crisis.
Karen, 47, from Darwen, who was diagnosed in October and is having chemotherapy, said: “We went through such an upsetting time with my sister and now we’re going through it again. I just feel so lucky that we’ve got such a strong family.
“It’s been especially difficult for Julie’s children, Steven and Corey, over the last couple of years and this will give everyone some Christmas cheer. We are really overwhelmed by it.”
The prizes include vouchers worth more than £240, plus days out to Blackpool Zoo and Blackburn Ice Arena.
Karen’s daughter Jodie Nelson, who will now go for genetic testing to see if she is likely to develop breast cancer, credited her mum with holding the family together, despite her recent diagnosis during a routine breast screening.
The 27-year-old said: “We’re getting through this together but my mum tends not to think of herself and I want this to show how much we all appreciate her.”
And Marilyn Gleave, Karen’s sister, said: “It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for all of us but Karen has been completely selfless and always kept a smile on her face.”
Karen, of St John’s Avenue, who is desperate to get back to her job as a psychiatric nurse on the Royal Blackburn Hospital site, has had the aggressive cancer removed through a mastectomy, and medics are now checking her lymph nodes.
She will celebrate Christmas with up to 40 family members, including partner Gary Turnbull and children Jodie, Sophie, Ricki and Cameron, while also marking the 90th birthday of her grandmother Irene Gleave on December 29.
This was the fourth year The Mall and the Telegraph have joined together to ensure a deserving individual or family has a special Christmas, with retailers donating dozens of prizes.
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