Hazel Martin was five months pregnant when she found out she had breast cancer. Her response to this devastating news is truly awe-inspiring – and her advice is essential reading for ALL women

When Hazel Martin looks at her gorgeous little girl Leia, she feels a pure love that couldn’t be stronger. For both Hazel and Leia have been on quite a journey, one that started when Hazel, who is 35 and works as a HR assistant for a law firm, felt a lump in her breast.

‘It was March 2024, myself and my husband Graham were four years in our house so we were settled and planning to expand our family.

‘We were watching TV one night and I felt a sharp pain in my breast, and when I felt the area, I found a lump,’ Hazel says.

‘I would have regularly checked my breasts for lumps and any changes, so I knew the lump was new. And then I went to my GP and she referred me straight away to the breast care clinic.;

Her GP wasn’t worried and so neither was Hazel.

‘I just thought it was normal, didn’t think anything of it, it might just be a cyst and then a couple of weeks later, in April, I actually found out I was pregnant with my first baby.’ Hazel says.

‘I didn’t think anything when the appointments came for my breast check and so I went into Vincent’s and they took a look and said I just needed an ultrasound to see what was going on.

‘That was two months later in July 2024 – at that stage I was five months pregnant. I wasn’t worried beforehand as I guess you’re in the baby bubble those first few months and that’s just what you’re thinking of. No one was too worried about it. 

‘They just thought it would be a cyst and they didn’t think they would see me again after the ultrasound.’

But Hazel says this was the day that everything changed.

‘They did the ultrasound, they took a biopsy and a mammogram and I got the results then two weeks later that I had cancer.

‘My husband came with me for the results, he grabbed my hand as the doctor said I had stage one triple negative breast cancer. Just two days before the results we had my 20 week scan. The great news was that the baby was growing strong and had a lot of hair.’

Hazel describes getting the news that she had cancer was like someone had pulled a rug from under her.

She was pregnant, full of hormones and terrified for her baby.

‘We fell into a hole of hospital appointments, surgery, chemo and crippling fear. Endless questions of can I keep my baby, what treatment is safe, how will I be treated post pregnancy, will I die? Again the nurses and doctors were amazing, asking every question with great care,’ she says.

‘Once I got the results, I had an operation two weeks after I had the results to remove the lump and because I was pregnant and I’d already had the mammogram they couldn’t do an MRI to check if it had spread, so they had to take out lymph nodes which thankfully showed the cancer hadn’t spread so it stayed at stage one.

‘But they didn’t get clear margins so I needed another surgery but that would be after my chemo had finished.’

It was, Hazel admits, a terrifying thought to have chemo while expecting a precious baby but she had to put her trust and faith in her doctors and the science behind it.

‘My dad had bowel cancer back in 2018, and one of the things he always said was trust the plan and trust them,’ so when we were asking ‘Is this safe? Can we do this?’ we were always reassured.

‘All my medication that I took while I was pregnant was always triple checked by the doctors, by the nurses. If I needed anything from my GP it was double checked before I could take anything. 

‘Three rounds of chemo was very frightening at the time – there is only one type of chemo you can get when you are pregnant and to this day it still baffles me that I could have chemo but I couldn’t have a 99 ice cream!

‘If being one of the few young people on the day ward draws funny looks, an ever growing bump certainly will. I lost my hair and suffered from heavy tiredness but my secret remedy was the little kicks my baby would give. 

‘Baby gave me a focus, an end goal and strength to get through the hard days.’

Hazel was meant to have four chemo sessions while pregnant but the steroids she was taking gave her gestational diabetes.

‘This was in November, honestly my first thought – sure why not at this stage,’ she says. ‘We pushed my last round of chemo to January 2025, to give my body a break and get ready for the baby’s arrival, which was meant to be December 17. 

‘I was so happy to have the break and just enjoy the build up to the baby’s arrival and of course Christmas. 

‘The plan was to induce me, however our baby had other ideas and decided she did not want to share her birthday with Christmas making an early arrival on November 24, three weeks early. Baby Leia was born, what a light of hope she has been in all the madness.’

Hazel had a lovely six weeks with Graham and new baby Leia but in January 2025 she had to get more chemotherapy.

‘I had my last round of A/C chemo followed by a three week break and then back to start new sessions of chemo, Taxol, which was every two weeks. As it was every two weeks the session went quickly. 

‘It was extremely hard to leave Leia at home but what was best for me was best for her. The thought of coming home to her cuddles in the evening after a long day in the hospital got me through it.

‘It was very hard the first day when I had to go back for treatment because she was so tiny and she was my little baby girl and it was so hard to leave her.

‘Obviously you don’t want to and you come home more tired with the side effects from the chemo and you’re not able to do the night feeds. So certain things like that were taken away, which isn’t nice, and that’s very hard.’

But trusting the process was something Hazel had to do.

‘One of my nurses always said to me that what was best for me was also best for the baby. I just had to keep telling myself, “This is temporary, it’s just for now. You will be able to do things with her soon.”

‘Those days are hard and it can be hard to find light at the end of the tunnel but you have to remind yourself that the treatment is going to heal you and Leia was giving me the joy I needed to get through it.’

And Hazel is thankful for the research done by the likes of Breast Cancer Ireland that allowed her to get chemotherapy while she was expecting a baby.

‘I was able to receive treatment while I was pregnant which is amazing,’ she says. ‘That saved me and it saved my baby.’

In April Hazel had to have another operation to ensure her margins were clear and then she had 30 rounds of radiation which finished around this time last year.

Hazel says people are still shocked when they hear she had chemotherapy while pregnant.

‘I hate doing it to people because it can seem very frightening but sometimes women find a lump after they’ve just had a baby and put it down to a blocked duct if they are breastfeeding.

‘But you need to get checked out to be on the safe side. It’s shocking but getting breast cancer in these situations does happen unfortunately, and that’s why I know the value of sharing my story, to give other people hope if it happens to them, that they can come through it.

‘It is very hard and it is only when I am saying it out loud in interviews like this that it comes back to me and I understand again what we went through. But you do come out the other side and you’re not alone.’

‘She was meant to come along when she did,’ Hazel says. 

‘Maybe the timing wasn’t great but she was meant to come along to keep us calm and keep us focused in the moment and she was always the positive in everything going through it. And she met all her milestones. She kept us going.’

Leia, Hazel and Graham are all doing this year’s Breast Cancer Ireland Very Big Pink Run. Three large scale live events take place across Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork between August 29 and September 6 – all in support of ground breaking breast cancer research and nationwide awareness and education programmes.

Now bigger and brighter than ever, this event is a full-on feel-good festival combining fun, fitness, community spirit and purpose. You can walk, jog or run the course and the events have both five kms and 10kms routes.

Hazel is asking people of all ages and abilities to register, don their pink, gather their friends, family, or colleagues and take part in what is Breast Cancer Ireland’s most important fundraising event of the year. 

This year, the pink wave is set to sweep across Dublin on August 29 at Leopardstown Racecourse, Kilkenny Castle Park on August 30 and MTU MTU, Bishopstown, Co. Cork on September 6, with thousands more expected to take part.

All three live events will offer a vibrant festival-style experience, making them a perfect family-friendly day out. 

Alongside the 5k and 10k run and walk routes, guests can enjoy live music, children’s entertainment, family games and a range of festival style food trucks, promising a fun filled, uplifting atmosphere from start to finish. There are no limits – and no pressure, just a shared commitment to making a difference.

Every step taken is a stride towards a future where breast cancer is no longer a life-threatening disease for the one in seven women and one in 738 men diagnosed with this disease in their lifetime.

People can also take part in a ‘virtual’ sense in their own local communities any time between August 29 and September 6.

Registrations for the event are now open on verypinkrun.ie.

Aisling Hurley, CEO of Breast Cancer Ireland says: ‘The Breast Cancer Ireland Very Pink Run is so much more than an annual fundraising event. It is a powerful movement that brings together thousands of people who share a common goal – creating a future where breast cancer no longer devastates lives and families.

‘Every participant, every donation and every kilometre completed helps to fund the research, innovation and education programmes that are changing outcomes for patients today while shaping a better future for generations to come.

‘Whether you choose to join us in Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork or virtually from anywhere in the world, we would encourage everyone to get involved. Pull on your pink T-shirt, rally your family, friends and colleagues, and join us as we work together to rewrite the future of breast cancer in Ireland.’

This year Breast Cancer Ireland will channel the funds raised into four critical areas namely:

• research and innovation, funding high-impact research projects and fellowships focused on aggressive and difficult-to-treat breast cancers, including triple-negative and metastatic breast cancer, helping accelerate laboratory discoveries into real-world patient treatments
• clinical advancement, supporting access to cutting-edge clinical trials, strengthening research infrastructure and enhancing Ireland’s participation in international oncology collaborations, giving patients earlier access to new and innovative therapies
• education and early detection, expanding nationwide awareness programmes that reach tens of thousands of people annually with life-saving breast health information and early detection education, particularly among younger and higher-risk groups
• talent and capacity building, investing in the next generation of oncology researchers, clinician scientists and PhD scholars to strengthen Ireland’s long-term expertise in breast cancer research and care.

In practical terms, that means that every euro raised will help deliver faster breakthroughs in aggressive breast cancers, greater access to cutting edge treatments, earlier detection through complimentary, nationwide education programmes and a stronger future through investment into world-class research talent.

And for Hazel it was awareness and the advance in treatments that meant she and Leia are happy and healthy today.

‘I was always very vigilant about changes in my body and to always check and to look for the eight signs of breast cancer. So I know I was lucky to have found the lump when I did and that I had a great care team I had behind me at St Vincent’s Hospital.

‘As soon as we did the ultrasound and the mammogram, that’s when it changed, but it’s also when they just took over and they got everything done very, very quickly. As soon as we found out I had cancer, they just took care of us. 

‘They had all the appointments lined up ready to go, any questions that I had, they were always there at the end of the phone.’

Hazel says there are other women who have received the same news that she has.

‘But Leia is perfect, and this is a miracle of medicine, I guess, that we’ve come this far and that breast cancer treatment has come this far that you can receive chemotherapy when you are expecting a baby. And it is so important for everyone to get out and join the Very Pink Run.

‘Leia will be coming with us on the walk in her stroller but she’s the reason why this is so important and everyone should come along and get involved, to raise fund to keep research going and raise more awareness and also to just shine a light on the survivors too.’

• For further information, visit verypinkrun.ie