A mum-of-three has completed a celebrity-led trek across the Sahara Desert just months after finishing cancer treatment.
Diane Lane, from Walderslade, decided to get involved after being diagnosed with breast cancer following her first mammogram on August 2 last year, the day after her daughter’s wedding.
Diane decided to get involved after being diagnosed with breast cancer last year
The trek was organised by breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel, which aims to ensure all breast cancers in young people are diagnosed early and accurately.
A group of 129 trekkers took on more than 100km over five days – raising over £830,000 in total.
They were joined by celebrity captains including Giovanna Fletcher, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Bimini, and presenter Ashley James.
Diane, who was 50 when she was told she was HER2-positive last year, said her diagnosis came as a “complete shock” to her as she hadn’t had any symptoms.
HER2-positive means that breast cancer cells have high levels of a protein called HER2, which can make the cancer grow and spread faster.
She said: “I’ve got two daughters and a son, but being diagnosed made me think about my daughters.
Diane with celebrity captain Giovanna Fletcher
“CoppaFeel’s mission is to educate younger women to be breast aware and to check themselves. Nobody should die from breast cancer.
“If we can pick it up early, people should be able to fully recover from it.”
She underwent chemotherapy and was given the all-clear in February after undergoing a mastectomy. She also had to have targeted therapy up until September.
Last year, she decided to sign up for the trek – and ended up being one of the 129 who were chosen.
The group met at Heathrow Airport on October 8 before flying to Marrakech and taking a 12-hour minibus tour to the desert.
Diane with celebrity captains Giovanna Fletcher and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Bimini
They then completed the “difficult” yet “inspiring” challenge, trekking for up to 12 hours on some days.
“We were leaving in the dark and coming back in the dark,” she said.
“We had camels coming with us to support us with water. My team captain was Bimini, and Giovanna Fletcher came out on one day with us.
“On the day we finished, we’d done 100 kilometres, but we ended up doing about 120km overall because we had some detours.
“On the last day, there was a massive sandstorm, so we had to be evacuated. It was pretty horrific.
A group of 129 trekkers took on more than 100km over five days, raising more than £830,000 in total
“We ended up staying in a property with mattresses on the floor and eight people in a room, but it was just added to the experience.
“We then got up early the next day to finish the final 10 kilometres.”
She said the experience was “so humbling” as well as mentally and physically difficult.
She explained: “Physically, you’re just one foot in front of the other. Within the first day, my toenails were falling off, and there were people with blisters and heat exhaustion and all sorts of stuff.
“But the adrenaline gets you through, and you just keep walking – but the mental toughness of it, I’d really underestimated.
Diane was 50 when she was told she was HER2-positive last year
“I think one day we walked for about six hours, and the horizon didn’t change. That’s mentally torturous because you’ve got no concept of distance or time.
“But we saw some amazing views. We did one day with just epic dunes where you couldn’t even get your feet into them, and then another day we climbed a mountain – the views just kept getting better and better”.
She raised more than £5,500 for the charity – and further donations can be made here.
Diane, who works as head of intermediate care at Medway Community Healthcare, says the experience was “surreal” and that she was left inspired by the others who took part alongside her.
She explained: “I was walking with women who’d lost mums when they were 13 years old, and now they’ve got children that are 13, and they were saying how they just feel so lucky that they’re still here with them.
The trek was organised by breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel, which aims to ensure all breast cancers in young people are diagnosed early and accurately
“I really did feel like one of the lucky ones. I got to 50 years old before I got diagnosed.
“These young women with young families were just so inspirational. They just made me feel so humbled.”
