HEALTH
Katie McKnight, 32, knew breast cancer ran in her family. Her great-grandmother, great-aunt and grandmother on her father’s side all had it. When she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation – linked to a higher risk for developing the disease – she decided to do all she could to stay healthy and go to regular screenings. Even so, she was not prepared for the life-altering shock of her diagnosis in 2020.
“I thought of myself as strong and in control of my health and future,” says Katie, who learnt she had triple-negative breast cancer, which is considered an aggressive form that grows quickly. The environmental scientist feared death but was also angry because she’d been living carefully to stave off the disease. “My diagnosis shattered that sense of who I was,”
