Tyneside air hostess who has beat cancer six times

Jul 19 2009 by Liz Lamb, Sunday Sun

FEISTY Janine Broadbent’s cover-girl good looks disguise a steely resolve which has seen her beat cancer an amazing six times.

She has short blonde hair, an illuminating smile and despite having her right leg amputated, undergoing gruelling chemotherapy and being diagnosed with a rare form of the disease, has not let life pass her by.

Since being diagnosed with a rare sarcoma in her knee in 2000, Janine has . . .

:: Learned to drive

:: Earned her wings as a pilot

:: Championed the causes of others through a support group and as a patient representative for major medical organisations.

The 33-year-old had her last course of chemotherapy six months ago and also had a sarcoma removed from her right lung but she refuses to let the cancer beat her.

Now the true survivor has opened her heart about her latest battle in the hope her story will inspire others.

From her home in Walkerdene in Newcastle’s East End, Janine said: “I do try and stay positive. Sometimes I just think that when the odds are so stacked against you and your mind, body and soul is tired, it forces you to look at life.

“You will be amazed at what you can achieve. It’s just mustering up the strength to do everything you want to do but it’s surprising where it comes from.

“The whole process has taught me how to do that, how to face problems head on. I would be dishonest if I said there hasn’t been dark moments.

“You have to go through the ups and downs and the downs are pretty horrible and not a nice place to be. Now I like to be upbeat.”

Janine was looking forward to travelling the world and graduating from university when she was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer which usually affects children and teenagers.

The then-24-year-old had been suffering with problems with her knee for a while which doctors had initially thought were growing pains but then suspected she may have a cartilage problem.

Tests carried out on Janine in July 2000 came back abnormal and she was booked to have an MRI scan in October.

She said: “The appointment was for October but I had a job with British Airways as a air hostess and training was due to start the same month.

“I didn’t want to lose my job and if they needed to do a cartilage operation they needed to do it now. That was July . . . by August I was on chemotherapy. It was devastating. Everyone was so shocked at my diagnosis.

“I felt well and looked well. For me the shock didn’t kick in until I was told I was going to lose my leg. I was 24 and my life had completely changed. I thought a lot of my dreams had been shattered.”

In a short space of time Janine’s life was completely turned upside down. She’d gone from landing her dream job as an air hostess and looking forward to travelling the world to finding out she had cancer and was facing a life-saving operation to remove her leg after chemotherapy failed to work.

She went on: “When I was in hospital having the amputation it was a dark time and I was extremely low. I’m afraid I was thinking ‘why me?’ That was when I met Macmillan nurse Joy Dowd. She was a huge influence during that time and remains so now.

“Then I thought it was either my leg or my life. Once I thought of it like that, the decision was made. It didn’t take much to get me on the trolley to the operating theatre.

“It was my life. It wasn’t about my leg any more.”