Pink coffee shop in RN crew room
Today at Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton a Senior Rates crew room was transformed into a “pink coffee bar” in support of one very special Chief Petty Officers (CPO) ongoing battle with breast cancer.
CPO Laura Knight is a breast cancer patient still fighting the disease. Laura opened a “Pink Coffee Shop” for one day only in the senior rates crew room of 702 Naval Air Squadron. It was an all ranks affair together with civilians who work in and around the air station with countless personnel from the squadron donating cakes and biscuits to be sold on the day, all proceeds going to Breast Cancer Care.
Laura was diagnosed in February 2009 whilst the Senior Maintenance Rating of 244 Flight when her daughter Lily was just three years old. Stage 3 and a Grade 3 tumour meant surgery. Six months of chemotherapy was followed by five weeks of intense daily radiotherapy.
In September 2009 Laura started taking an anti-cancer drug that she will take for five years and returned to work in the Royal Navy in April 2010 part time. A steady flow of checkups, scan and various other tests were to follow.
Laura said “In August 2012 I had a double mastectomy with reconstruction. This was to ensure as far as possible that I would not have a recurrence of the cancer. I will never be in remission as my cancer had already spread into the lymph system, so they can’t tell if it is lying dormant somewhere in my body”.
Support for Laura and the charity close to her was in evidence as a regular stream of personnel enjoyed cakes, coffee and chat with Laura in the crew room.
Laura added “The Navy and the people at Yeovilton have been a huge support to me through my journey and I would have found it a whole lot harder to get through the day to day business and work without them. I live my life as fully as I can, I suffer badly from fatigue at times which makes things tough but I am a Fighter and I refuse to give up. My mother lost her life to Breast Cancer at 60 years of age, I was 29 and I still feel robbed every day. My daughter is now 8 years old and I intend to be there for her as long as I possibly can.”
Laura’s Pink Coffee Shop raised £550.00 for Breast Cancer Care testament to her positivity and support at RNAS Yeovilton.