City of Derry rugby star Amelia facing breast cancer fight

Amelia McFarland says she has been ‘overwhelmed’ by support from her family and friends as she prepares to begin her fight against breast cancer.

The City of Derry Rugby star has had her world turned upside down since discovering a lump on her breast just two days after her 32nd birthday in September. Confirmation of her diagnosis came shortly afterwards and she will now begin chemotherapy next week as her fight against her illness begins. In just the space of a few short weeks, everything has changed for her.

“Like so many breast cancer stories, I just found a lump one day and went to the doctors,” she explains. “She was amazing but she just said “This doesn’t look good, we’ll need to send you on”, and I went to the Northwest Breast Cancer Clinic which is in Letterkenny and while they wanted to wait on my results before telling me, I just remember laying on the biopsy table and seeing all their worried faces and just knowing. I remember crying on the table and the poor surgeon couldn’t have liked the bawling female on the table.”

A wedding coordinator for her own business – Dunmore House & Gardens – life has been busy but good for Amelia, who has also been playing with City of Derry since 2016. She could never have imagined that her life would have taken such a turn so quickly.

“There’s just been lots of ups and downs,” she continues. “I remember leaving the clinic and sitting in the car and crying for ages. At 32 you don’t really think this could happen; I’ve got a thriving business, I’m a wedding coordinator, I’m an avid horse person and I play rugby which is one of my passions, so for someone to tell you that you won’t be able to actually do that for a year or maybe longer is heartbreaking, it really is. It stops you in your tracks and you need to re-evaluate life. Your life literally changes in front of your eyes in the space of five seconds.

“I will be starting chemo next week. The strangest part about it is that you walk in and walk out of those clinics with that diagnosis, but you feel healthy; all that’s wrong is that you have got a small lump in your breast. That’s the only thing that’s wrong, but that lump has changed your life. It has taken me so long to actually accept this and at the moment I’m just getting all the drugs for pre-chemo which are sitting in my bathroom at the moment. What used to be full of cosmetics is filled with all sorts of tablets. The amount of doctors’ appointments as well is crazy. That’s what has changed at the moment an it will probably change even more from next week onwards.”

Early diagnosis

Fortunately for Amelia, the diagnosis has come early, giving her great hope that she can beat this cancer. Backing her all the way are her family and City of Derry team mates who, alongside local charity the Pink Ladies, held a tea soiree at Judges Road on Sunday past, right after their victory over Omagh Ladies. That support has helped keep Amelia strong in her lowest moments.

“The support I’ve had from the girls, the support I’ve had from my family, it’s been overwhelming, it really has,” she admits. “To be honest, the support I’ve had from the wider rugby community has well has been overwhelming. All I really wanted to do was just spread the word so that some other girl, perhaps a bit younger than me, has a thin and starts checking her own breasts. That’s really why I do this.

“The girls in Derry are always sending me messages and asking is there anything they can do or if I need anyone to talk to; they have just been unbelievable. The support has been eye-watering. I call them family and to have a family like that is just beyond belief.

“I did catch it early. I was lucky enough when I was younger in college – my friend had a scare and I remember talking to her about it, and her telling me that she now checks her breasts and how to do it and what to do and what to look out for. From that, I fairly regularly now check my own beasts; it was only from that I actually knew that the small lump was not in its usual place.”

A rugby player for six years now, Amelia faces a significant adjustment as she goes through her treatment, and it may be a while before she is on the pitch again. But that is a small price to pay if it means a return to full health.

“I moved up here to start my business and I found myself sitting behind my desk a lot so I had to get out and start doing some exercise,” she says. “I hate going to the gym and the closest thing was a women’s rugby team, so I just went down and they were amazing and I’ve been there for almost six years. I’ll have to find some other way of entertaining myself, maybe sleep.

“It will be a huge adjustment, from the idea of losing my hair to other things – it’s just like going back to covid again. I’ll just have to go into full lockdown. The thing about going into chemo is that everybody reacts differently, all the medicines are different, and everybody has a different journey when it comes to cancer.

“No journey in cancer is the same journey and I’ll take it day by day. I have lots of things I want to do – I’m also studying psychology because I went back to college this year, so I’ll have that to entertain me anyway. I’m going to take it day by day. I have loads of things lined up, and that includes House of the Dragons and Desperate Housewives on boxset.”

Enthusiastic

An energetic and enthusiastic girl, Amelia remains full of laughter and smiles throughout her interview, a personality trait that has endeared her to so many already. She will continue to look forward with optimism and full belief that better days lie ahead, and she will do so with all the love in the world behind her from her family and best friends at City of Derry.

“I’m one of those terrible people who doesn’t know how to stop smiling, even when I’m crying. I try to find a silver lining in everything,” she laughs.

“This can happen to anyone. I’ve learned this from the Pink Ladies, and that’s another organization. I have a huge thank you for. I’ve learned from them that it can happen to men as well. It is something that needs to be known to everybody. I just want to get the word out that, at the end of the day, just know your body, know what’s happening to your body and also talk about it. Talk about my story, talk about other people’s stories with their permission, but some other person who doesn’t talk may hear or may learn and may check or go to the doctor.

“80% of the time it will probably be nothing, but won’t you be glad when it is that 20%, that you caught it in time or you have been able to save somebody else’s life by talking to somebody or telling somebody about it. That’s really the message – don’t be shy showing your body, and don’t be shy talking.”