A Breast cancer victim has won a competition to have her own message on the popular sweet Love Hearts.
Beverley Kerry, of Ilkeston, hopes her “Think Pink” slogan will help save fellow sufferers.
The 37-year-old said she was lucky to escape with her life after being diagnosed with the disease in March, 2005.
She is currently in remission after having an operation to remove her left breast followed by six doses of chemotherapy over seven months.
Mrs Kerry says she hopes her Love Hearts message will raise awareness that the disease can affect young women as well as old.
The “Think Pink” slogan is used by Cancer Research UK when advertising its breast cancer fund-raising events, such as Race for Life.
Mrs Kerry said friends and family, including husband Martin, 35, had told her not to worry when she found a large bruise on her breast because she was “too young” for it to be cancer.
Mrs Kerry, of Shirebrook Close, said: “They were just as shocked as me when I got the diagnosis.”
Mrs Kerry was diagnosed with grade three cancer, which, she said, gave her a “50% chance of survival”.
Surgeons at Derby City General Hospital removed her breast 10 days later. She now has to take hormone tablets daily and regularly returns to hospital for scans.
Mrs Kerry came across the Love Hearts competition when looking on the website of manufacturer Swizzles Matlow to find out which of its products were vegetarian.
Earlier this month, she discovered she was one of 10 winners nationwide.
Mrs Kerry said: “I was delighted to have won. I didn’t think I stood a chance.”
The personalised sweets will hit the shelves by September.
Swizzles Matlow director Andrew Matlow said response to the competition had been amazing.
He said: “We always knew that Love Hearts held a special place in the nation’s heart.”
(c) 2008 Derby Evening Telegraph. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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