A WOMAN who lost her mother to ovarian cancer has bravely spoken out to help raise awareness of the deadly disease.

Holly Gardner, 25, lost mum Helen to ovarian cancer in November last year and is urging people to look out for the symptoms and speak out about the ‘hidden cancer’.

She spoke out during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Helen, from Weymouth, was diagnosed in July 2014 and was 59 when she sadly passed away some 16 months later.

She went through chemotherapy and had a hysterectomy before scans suggested that the cancer had gone, but Holly said she believes it never left her mum and the symptoms re-emerged as they had done before. She said: “There was the bloating and swelling and she was very uncomfortable and had a low appetite.”

Helen went to the doctor and two weeks later had an emergency scan, which confirmed the cancer had returned.

Holly said her mum showed immense courage in the face of the condition, continuing to run her bed and breakfast and looking out for others, and only really became very ill in the last few weeks before she passed away at the Joseph Weld Hospice.

Holly accompanied her mother to all her appointments as she battled with the disease in an attempt to get a greater understanding of what her mother was going through but says even now she does not fully understand it.

Holly, who ran the Race for Life Marathon in October last year to raise £1,000 for Cancer Research, is now determined to do what she can in honour of her mum to raise awareness of the condition to ensure others don’t have to go through what her family experienced.

She said the key is picking up on the symptoms and getting an earlier diagnosis but this is only possible if women, and GPs, are aware of what to look out for.

Many of the symptoms, like bloating, feeling full, loss of appetite and abdominal pain, can be things women experience often but she says it is about recognising when they occur for longer periods and at abnormal times.

Holly said: “It’s about being in tune with your body and recognising the symptoms then going to get it checked out.

“Time and time again it’s just too late and women have to go through chemotherapy resulting in a low chance of survival”.

Holly said that unlike some cancers, like breast cancer, there is no external signs of ovarian cancer and unless women speak out about how they are feeling it is hard to get a diagnosis. She said: “It’s a very hidden cancer. Unless you voice it and say what’s really going in your body it will stay hidden.”

Like many mothers, Holly says Helen was also one to put others first and would not want to be a burden on others. However, she says that by ignoring how they are feeling themselves women could be making it worse in the long run.

Holly said: “Another key message is not to be afraid of hurting your loved ones. You are just going to hurt them more if you ignore the symptoms.”