Five years after her diagnosis, Eloise joins eight other blood cancer survivors to front the new blood cancer awareness campaign of local charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI’s, Empty Chairs.

Before her cancer diagnosis in 2012, Eloise left her family home in Fermanagh and began teaching Home Economics at Forthill Integrated College in Lisburn.

When Eloise’s energy levels began to rapidly deteriorate, she became aware that something was wrong.

She discovered a swollen gland on her neck and when it wouldn’t go away, she visited her GP. After months of inconclusive tests, Eloise finally underwent a biopsy and was told she had blood cancer – stage 2A Hodgkins Lymphoma. 

Speaking about the day she received her diagnosis, Eloise said, “You never think it will come to you. I had never heard anything about it, and did not know what it was. I kept thinking how I was going to tell my family this, because I knew it was going to rock their world. 

“When we came to the realisation that it was manageable, we tried to focus on the positives and I think the positive mindset really helped get me through it.”

Eloise underwent 12 rounds of chemotherapy for six months, and endured a slow recovery. After two and a half years, Eloise was able to return to work three days a week, and rested the other two days. Now she is back at work full-time, has taken up jogging and travels independently, recently completing the last part of the Camino de Santiago in the north of Spain. 

Eloise is the face of the Empty Chairs campaign for July, and hopes that her work will help raise awareness and help others. 

“It’s been five years since I have been diagnosed, and it’s good to give something back, and reach out to help other people. Being involved in the campaign has helped me realise the hard work that goes on behind the scenes, and the work that goes on to ensure the medication and treatment is advancing. If this campaign can help one other person, then it would be great.”

To find out more about the work Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI does, visit www.leukaemiaandlymphomani.org.