Kelly Cumming has a lot to celebrate. Not only is she getting ready to jet off to New York to get married, but she has been told she is now 10 years clear of the bone cancer that caused her to have a leg amputated and lose her hair.
Kelly, of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, went from an ordinary, sporty schoolgirl to a seriously ill cancer patient in the space of only a few weeks after an odd lump appeared on her leg.
It was a PE teacher who first urged her to see her GP – and the eventual diagnosis led to Kelly’s happy teenage life changing beyond recognition.
Her long hair was lost to chemotherapy, her eyelashes disappeared and her high heels were shelved as a prosthetic leg was made to measure.
Kelly, 26, said: “When you are a teenager, your identity is obviously very important. I felt mine was being stripped away and that was very painful.
“Everything happened very, very quickly and I lost my leg just two or three weeks after my 16th birthday. I knew that by having my leg amputated my life would change for ever but my main concern was getting rid of what could ultimately kill me.”
About 550 people are diagnosed in the UK every year with primary bone cancer and it is a disease that is more likely to affect children and young adults.
Kelly, a former pupil of Westhill Academy who works in HR and is studying at university at night to complete her professional qualifications, is now an ambassador for Bone Cancer Awareness Week, which runs until Saturday.
The Bone Cancer Research Trust is calling for earlier diagnosis by GPs after it emerged that survival rates have not improved for 25 years.
Kelly, who was first told that her lump was an internal bruise, was diagnosed with cancer three to four months after she first went to see her GP. However, she does not dwell on what could have been – and whether her leg could have been saved – and recently she got the all-clear that allows her to move on to the next phase of her life.
She completed the London to Paris cycle ride to raise money for bone cancer research last year, and after she and her partner, Andy Paddon, crossed the finishing line at the Eiffel Tower, he got down on one knee to propose.
The two are due to marry in New York next year.
Kelly has raised about £10,000 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.