A DEDICATED member of Runcorn Linnets Football Club has bravely spoken out about her experience with breast cancer ahead of a fundraising match on Good Friday.

Tracey Dooley will mark her one-year anniversary of remission from breast cancer this month and wishes to support all lives touched by cancer.

The club will raise funds for Macmillan Delamere Cancer Information and Support Service at Halton Hospital – a confidential drop-in service for anybody affected by cancer – during the home fixture against Nantwich town.

Many of those connected to the club have also been touched by cancer and see the upcoming fundraiser as a way to recognise the ‘invaluable work’ carried out by Macmillan.

Tracey said: “October 2022 started a tough nine months for my family and I, however it set me on a path that has brought me to Runcorn Linnets.

“My mum was diagnosed with lung cancer. She needed to have half a lung removed in December, this news broke me.

“Five days before her surgery, I discovered an indentation in my left breast. I had biopsies in December, and in January 2023 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and lost my amazing uncle the following week.

“I needed surgery and a course of radiotherapy, and I was terrified. My family were everything to me, and on March 27, I rang the bell in Clatterbridge Hospital.”

Tracey is the volunteer coordinator at the club and wishes to emphasise the support of not just the NHS staff, but the unwavering support of everyone at Linnets.

“I will also remain eternally grateful to our NHS and the amazing staff teams that cared for me at this time,” she continued.

“I started working at the Linnets during my recovery.  Then my dad died. Linnets gave me a way out of everything that was happening.

“It gave me a life on a Saturday that didn't have cancer and death.”

As well as her principal role in the club, Tracey is known to fans and players for her work in the clubhouse bar.

“It became the place that I could be myself, because I wasn't myself. I lost all of my confidence, I was depressed and I lost myself” she said.

“Even now I can struggle all week with depression, but I live for a Saturday, when I know I'll be safe, comfortable and be able to be me.

“I've made some amazing friends on the board, with other volunteers, supporters and our players alike.”

Tracey wishes to highlight the importance of Linnets in her recovery, as well as to raise awareness for those whose lives have been affected by cancer.

She added: “I’ve had support off all of those people. Some don't even realise what they have done for me, or what they mean to me.

“Being involved with Runcorn Linnets has been a huge part in my recovery from cancer, because I've learned that real recovery continues long after the treatment ends, and I'm still on that journey.

“I couldn't pick out one thing that I love the most about Linnets, I just do love Linnets. It makes proud to be part of and so accepted by the team.”