A mum and daughter will take on a fashion show to celebrate being cancer free.

Serena Benassi and her mum Linda Marsden will be two of 32 models taking to the Breast Cancer Care catwalk at Grosvenor House Hotel on October 7.

The pair, both from Westminster, were diagnosed within years of each other and both had trouble getting the correct diagnosis.

Linda was 38, when, in 1998, she was diagnosed. She said she found it hard for people to take her concerns seriously, and at first she was sent away by doctors who told her there was nothing wrong.

She said: “I went back to a well woman clinic three months later and was again told it was fine. Then whilst on holiday with my brother I told him and he offered to pay for me to get it checked privately, so I did.

“The doctor I met there said he could feel something and it would need testing, but rather than paying, he would be at a local NHS hospital in three weeks time and would see me there, so that’s what I did.”

The results showed Linda had breast cancer and it was recommended she have a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and then radiotherapy.

The mum-of-three said: “I really didn’t tell many people as I didn’t want them to worry. I simply got on with the treatment and even continued working. When I was first told I would need chemotherapy I was really adamant I didn’t want it.

“The idea of losing my hair was worse than anything else, but the doctor said it was needed. In the end I was lucky and I didn’t lose my hair. This helped me avoid looking any different and needing to explain.”

Linda got through her treatment and just two years later she found herself going through everything again when eldest daughter Serena, 23 at the time, was diagnosed.

And like her mum before her she had a really hard time getting the doctor to take her seriously, having to repeatedly visit her doctor and beg for tests.

She was eventually sent to the hospital for tests and diagnosed with DCIS (a cancer in the milk ducts).

Raising money

A week later she found herself in hospital for a double mastectomy.

She said: “I had very large breasts which developed from a young age and although I did not like the attention they received it was still odd to think I was losing such a big part of myself.

“I did have an immediate reconstruction, but they were much smaller. It was difficult to come to terms with.”

Despite further concerns about her treatment, Serena recovered and is now a firefighter.

But sadly it was not the end of the family’s story with the illness.

Following her daughter’s ordeal, Linda decided to get tested for the faulty BRCA gene, saying: “My aunt had died of a type of cancer, my nan had had breast cancer and so had a cousin. It seemed logical.

"When the test came back positive I was not really surprised, but also devastated as I knew what it meant for the rest of my family.

“I had always been fine about my own cancer, but when Serena was diagnosed, I fell apart. This was my child. Now I was concerned the rest of my children would carry the fault, it was very upsetting.”

Linda had preventative surgery, having her ovaries removed in 2004 and a double mastectomy in 2006. Serena was also tested and found to carry the faulty gene, as did her younger brother, however Serena’s sister's test came back clear.

Now, to celebrate being cancer free for more than 15 years, both women have been picked to take part in the fashion show.

They will be strutting their stuff in a wide variety of outfits by designers like Butler & Wilson and Jeff Banks to high-street stores like Dorothy Perkins and George at Asda.

It will raise money for Breast Cancer Care.

Tickets cost between £75 and £195 and available by emailing theshow@breastcancercare.org.uk or calling 0345 092 0806 or email.