On World Cancer Day 2022, we are proud to share the inspiring work being done by Emma Arthurs-Newman, to ensure that people don’t need to face the disease alone.
Emma, a Suffolk Police Fed Rep, was working as a response police officer in 2017 when she discovered a lump in her breast. Emma was diagnosed with Stage 2 Grade 3 breast cancer and underwent 14 months of intensive treatment at Colchester Hospital. She is now cancer free.
Following her own cancer journey, Emma became Suffolk’s cancer single point of contact and has gone above and beyond to passionately support colleagues who have received their own diagnosis and to break the silence around cancer. She is driven by a desire to ensure they get the support and advice she felt was severely lacking when she was ill.
Emma says: “I encourage everyone to check their bumps for lumps, male and female, and to make sure that anything that feels not quite right gets checked.
“I don’t want anyone to feel isolated. In my journey, I’ve helped about six people directly and I don’t know how many other people they have been able to help as a result of me helping them. It is always an honour to be able to help anyone of the policing family. It’s a bit frightening when you get a diagnosis and so I wanted to turn my experience into something positive that could help those diagnosed or caring for family members with cancer,”
Emma has now been named employee of the month for Suffolk, in recognition of the invaluable support she offers colleagues. She is a true inspiration to others around her.
Branch chair Darren Harris said: “Emma is fully deserving of this Employee of the Month accolade. Much of this support she gives to colleagues is in her own time and she is the go-to person for anything to do with cancer or how to access support for those suffering with or caring for someone with a diagnosis.
“She has had a positive impact on many lives and she is always there for people who are often at their lowest ebb.”
In 2018, 18 million people world-wide were diagnosed with cancer. Today, thanks to research, 2 in 4 people in the UK survive their cancer for 10 years or more.
World Cancer Day is led by the UICC, the Union for International Cancer Control. Cancer Research UK is one of its thousand members from across 172 countries.
