Saba was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer followed by her identical twin’s cancer diagnosis last year, where she found she was a BRCA2 carrier. She needed a double mastectomy with sentinel lymph node removal on both sides and 6 rounds of chemotherapy, followed by 15 sessions of radiotherapy and 10 years on tamoxifen.

‘At 44, I’ve navigated a journey from being a super fit and healthy individual to confronting breast cancer. In my dual roles as a trained dialysis nurse and a Public Health Development Officer, I advocate for healthy lifestyle choices to prevent disease and it’s something I’m very passionate about. Unfortunately, I am a mutant (BRCA2) so I’m blaming it on my genes.

Amidst my challenging journey, my energetic 8-year-old, Zakariyya, is my constant motivation, filling each day with care and love. Embracing this fight with cancer, I find strength in my professional background and the unwavering support of my family. As for hobbies, I love walking and crafting. As I have chemotherapy induced neuropathy at the moment, I’ve struggled with the former but do love crafting with Zakariyya.

I always imagined having chemotherapy would mean that I’d struggle to eat much but steroids make you hungry! I particularly crave bananas at the moment so thankfully haven’t had any issues with low potassium so far. I am currently being spoilt by my family with copious amounts of food! Arabs like to feed. I praise God for my fast metabolism.’