Zoë Handscomb-Edwards, 44, thought she’d pulled a muscle during yoga. Weeks later, she was pregnant and noticed a golf-ball-sized lump on her leg. “I just wanted peace of mind,” she said, recalling how she went to her GP for answers. What followed was three agonizing months of waiting for results.

At 16 weeks pregnant, Zoë was told the lump was sarcoma — a rare cancer affecting fewer than one in a million people each year. “I remember walking out of the hospital and bursting into tears in the carpark,” she shared. Surgeons removed a 20cm tumor while she was seven months pregnant. But by August, after giving birth to her daughter Penelope, a PET scan confirmed the cancer had spread.

“They told me I had between six months and two years to live. At that time I’d just had my baby,” Zoë said. Radiotherapy bought her time, and she used it to travel across Europe with her newborn.

Zoë’s husband, Rob, is now fundraising for experimental treatments. “I’m not chasing a cure,” she admitted. “But every moment I have with Penelope and Rob is precious. Check any unusual lumps early — it could save your life.”