When retired police officer Moyra Clark was diagnosed with breast cancer not once, but twice, she didn’t ask, “Why me?”
Instead, the former detective inspector did what she’s always done. She laced up her trainers, took a deep breath and got on with it.
Now the 58-year-old from Udny is preparing to join other survivors on the runway for this year’s Courage on the Catwalk, a fashion show fundraiser for Aberdeen-based cancer charity Friends of Anchor.
“I’ve always been quite pragmatic,” Moyra says. “If it’s something you can’t control, you just deal with it.”
Her first diagnosis came in 2015, when she was 49 and working as a DI in the public protection unit.
Fit, sporty and focused on her job, she expected to be back at work in no time after a routine lumpectomy and radiotherapy.
But when further tests showed the cancer was too close to the margins, she underwent a re-excision, then a mastectomy, then haematoma removal – and finally, reconstructive surgery.
Even then, she never paused for long.
“I worked for about a month after I was diagnosed,” she recalls. “I thought I could just compartmentalise. At work, I’d be focused on work. But eventually, I realised I was totally done – mentally and physically. I just had to stop.”
‘I didn’t want to retire from sport on cancer’s terms’
As someone who’d spent 30 years policing tough beats in Turriff, Peterhead and Aberdeen – and playing competitive basketball in her spare time – being “done” was unfamiliar territory.
Basketball had been a constant in Moyra’s life. She was a mainstay in the Grampian Police Ladies team, even returning to the court after her first mastectomy.
“I didn’t want to retire from sport on cancer’s terms,” she says. “So I trained, got really fit again, and played one last tournament. I played well, we medalled – and I walked away on my terms.”
She officially retired from Police Scotland in 2017, after 30 years of service.
By 2022, life had settled into a new rhythm: golf, travel, and improving her Italian. Then came the second diagnosis.
“It felt like a bit of an inconvenience, to be honest,” she says with a wry smile. But this time, the treatment was more intense.
As well as another mastectomy and reconstruction, Moyra underwent chemotherapy, targeted therapy and bone infusions, which impacted her heart function and left her exhausted.
“I’ve always been used to pushing myself. But this time, if I overdid it, I crashed. I’d be out walking one day, and the next, I couldn’t move.”
How reconstructive surgery improved Moyra’s self-image
Despite it all, she stayed active – walking through treatment, joining gym classes where she could and moving house twice while building a new home with her partner Richard.
“There were days I felt good, and I’d do too much,” she says. “Then I’d pay for it. It took a long time to understand my limits.”
One thing cancer never dented was Moyra’s self-image. “I was never that bothered about body image before,” she says.
“But after surgery, I actually became more aware of my shape – and in some ways, I think reconstruction has had a positive impact on my appearance.”
Moyra prepares for Courage on the Catwalk
That confidence is something she hopes will come through on the Courage on the Catwalk stage this May.
“If there’s even one person there who thinks, ‘there’s someone who’s had two mastectomies, who’s happy with her life and staying positive’, then that’s something to be celebrated.”
Her message to anyone facing a similar decision? “It’s scary, yes. But reconstruction surgery now is amazing.”
For Moyra, her life after surgery includes long walks, improving her golf handicap and brushing up on her Italian for holidays to the continent.
“Every day feels like a privilege now,” she says. “Before, work was all-consuming. But I’ve learned that if there’s something you want to do, you’ve just got to go for it.”
Moyra Clark is raising money for Friends Of Anchor through her Courage on the Catwalk appearance. Click here to donate.
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