A WIRRAL restaurateur being treated for breast cancer is preparing for her sixth charity Race for Life.

Jackie Davies was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 and re-diagnosed in 2014.

The 49-year-old, from Hoylake, is among 771 people signed up for Race For Life in Birkenhead Park on Sunday, June 28 and is urging Globe readers to sign up.

She was diagnosed in March 2010, aged just 44, and had her mastectomy later that month with an expander inserted to aid later reconstruction.

Six rounds of chemotherapy followed, then radiotherapy and the drug Tamoxifen. She also had complications a blood clot and Lymphoedema.

Jackie said: "It was weird being told I had cancer. If someone had told me this would happen to me I'd have thought I'd go to pieces but instead I just sat there and then I tried to make a joke.

"The staff at the hospital were absolutely fantastic though. They know you don't take it all in and need time to come around.

"I have always been a very busy person. During treatment I carried on working. My self-esteem, confidence and body image took a big knock though.”

Jackie’s Dad Gordon Smith survived stomach and prostate cancer but when he passed away aged 75 in March last year, after only 10 days of illness, doctors found he had undiagnosed liver cancer.

Jackie continued: "After my diagnosis in 2010 I thought about my family’s history of cancer but I never did before my diagnosis.

"My dad, his mum and his sister have all died of cancer. It was only after having the diagnosis and realising there was such a strong history of cancer in my family that I decided to get genetic testing along with my two sisters.

"My sister Anita and I both found we have the BRCA 2 gene and my other sister Angie doesn't."

After discovering she had the BRCA2 gene Jackie decided to have her ovaries removed in January 2011 and an elected mastectomy on her right breast and bilateral muscle sparing Latissimus Dorsi reconstruction in September 2014.

Unfortunately a biopsy after the operation showed stage 2 cancer and Jackie finished 12 cycles of chemotherapy in April this year.

She has been taking cancer-fighting drugs Tamoxifen and Letrozole for five years, and will take Letrozole for a further five to 10 years, and has just begun taking Herceptin injections for a year.

Jackie, who runs Julian’s Restaurant in Hoylake with husband Julian, said having cancer had made her take stock of her life and realise what’s most important.

She married Julian at Goodison Park in June 2011 after 11 years together and her breast nurse Alison and chemo nurse Trudy attended the big day.

Looking forward to Race For Life, Jackie said: “I like doing it to pay something back for my treatment and knowing every single person there wants to do something to beat cancer is absolutely amazing.

"I just hope one day there will be a cure for all cancers.

"I can't run to save my life but I always do Race for Life it’s such an amazing day.

"Our customers always sponsor me for Race for Life – they are so generous. My mum, who has been ill herself, Julian and my family have been a massive support and strength to me.

"My family, friends and customers for the past five years have helped me raise £2,900.

"Having cancer the first time was very scary. I had an old school friend who went through it at the same time and that really helped me. This time I knew what to expect."

Alison Barbuti, Cancer Research UK’s North West spokeswoman, said: "We are urging women in Merseyside to sign up to Race for Life.

"The feel-good factor that comes from being part of an army of women ready to show cancer who’s boss will last long after the event is over.

"Race for Life events are not competitive. They are not about being fit or fast.

"The reality on the day is that participants of all shapes, sizes and ages generate an electric energy as they unite in their determination to defeat cancer."

To enter visit raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.