Woman who lost leg at 14 speaks up to help others

After double rare cancer battle Liv is backing research to prevent it

- BY BETHAN FINIGHAN

A STOCKPORT woman who lost her leg to cancer as a teenager and was given a devastating diagnosis for a second time at just 23 is backing research aimed at preventing the disease before it starts.

Liv Shaw, from Reddish, has a rare inherited condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS).

People with the condition have up to a 90 per cent chance of developing cancer during their lifetime.

The 29-year-old was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, when she was 14 and studying for her GCSEs.

After undergoing chemotherapy at Alder Hey Hospital, Liv was told the cancer had spread into the tissue and muscle surrounding her leg bone - and she needed an above-the-knee amputation.

Devastatingly, nearly a decade later, while studying at Manchester Metropolitan University, Liv faced cancer for a second time. After breaking a rib in early 2020, she discovered a lump by chance.

Scans revealed a tumour, which was initially thought to be benign after surgery.

Further tests later confirmed it was cancerous.

She underwent another operation to remove additional tissue from the area, although doctors determined the cancer was so slow-growing that she did not require further treatment.

Following her second diagnosis and a history of cancer on her mother's side of the family, Liv underwent genetic testing and discovered she carries Li-Fraumeni syndrome.