'My friends threw me a boob farewell party'

As Kara Tointon reveals she had a double mastectomy after testing positive for cancer gene BRCA1, Grace Burton explains why she had the same surgery at just 26

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EastEnders actress Kara Tointon recently revealed that last year she'd had surgery to remove both breasts and her fallopian tubes after tests found that she carries a gene that increases the risk of developing cancer.

Kara, 41, shared the news in an Instagram video, saying: "You may have heard of the BRCA genes 1 and 2, and as a carrier it means I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer."

Grace Burton, 27, from Bromley, Greater London, is all too familiar with what Kara - and Angelina Jolie, who had the same surgery in 2013 - went through, both testing positive for the same gene, and making the decision to undergo a double mastectomy.

Grace had already seen her mother and aunt have mastectomies while being treated for breast cancer and decided she would rather undergo the procedure than risk developing the disease in the future.

"I think I'm lucky I know I have the BRCA1 gene, and I can do something about it," says Grace, a corporate finance consultant.

"By the time it came to my preventative surgery, my attitude was more, 'let's get on with it'. I didn't get too emotional about it."

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Her aunt, Sally Widgen, 52, was diagnosed with breast cancer in her mid-30s. Although her diagnosis sparked concern in the family, her doctors initially dismissed the idea of a genetic link.

"My mum was so worried because of her young age, but doctors said it's not genetic because my aunt was the first in the family to get it," Grace says.

However, Sue, now 56, was determined to take action. "Mum was 45 and would have had to wait five years for a mammogram, so she paid for one privately.

"They found a tiny lump that was so deep she would never have picked up through self-checking. She realised at that point that it was probably genetic."