As a fit, healthy and vibrant single mum-of-three, marathon running star Mel Brandon initially shrugged it off when she detected a lump in her breast, only to be shaken to her core when several weeks later a biopsy confirmed breast cancer.
Feeling “sick to her stomach” and in a daze, the 2022 Rotorua Marathon winner remembers sitting in her car after finding out, trying desperately to process her thoughts.
“To be hit by the C-bomb was a