This festive season, a mother's deepest hope is not for presents under the tree, but for a future free from the disease that has shadowed her family. Bec Pickering, a 43-year-old from Mildura, Victoria, has one simple Christmas wish: that her two young daughters never have to endure the breast cancer diagnosis that shattered her world.
A Diagnosis That Changed Everything
In 2024, when her youngest daughter Dottie was just 15 months old, Bec received the devastating news she had breast cancer. The diagnosis came after she initially dismissed a subtle change in her nipple as a hormonal effect, having recently undergone seven rounds of IVF to conceive her girls, Daphne and Dottie. Further tests delivered a second blow: she carries the hereditary BRCA2 gene mutation, which dramatically increases the lifetime risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.
"The only thing tougher than telling your kids you have breast cancer, is knowing they could get it, too," Bec told the Daily Mail. "Those first weeks after diagnosis were pretty dark. I didn't want to die. I wanted to watch my girls grow up."
A Family History and a Gruelling Fight
Cancer is tragically familiar in Bec's family. Her paternal grandmother died from the disease in 1973, and her father, Roger, is currently battling prostate cancer—another illness linked to the BRCA2 mutation. Fifteen years ago, her mother Jill was also diagnosed with breast cancer. "It was terrible watching Mum go through it," Bec recalled.
Determined to survive, Bec embarked on an arduous treatment path. She endured months of chemotherapy, followed by a double mastectomy and radiotherapy. In November 2025, she underwent further surgery to remove her ovaries. All this while caring for her two small children at home. "For a long time, I just couldn't get out of bed," she shared. "Daphne and Dottie moved all their toys into the bedroom... They're a constant reminder that this is about more than me."
Finding Hope in Clinical Trials
Bec's belief in medical progress led her to join the Breast Cancer Trials' OLIO clinical trial. This study investigates whether adding new treatments to standard pre-operative chemotherapy can improve outcomes for young, pre-menopausal women with her specific type of breast cancer. The trial also offered practical relief, allowing her to participate via telehealth from Mildura, sparing her frequent trips to Melbourne.
"Clinical trials are what give me hope," Bec stated. "It could help future generations survive breast cancer. And it could make all the difference for my girls and my nieces too." Her daughters can be tested for the BRCA2 mutation when they turn 18.
This Christmas, Bec is the face of Breast Cancer Trials' Christmas Appeal, urging the public to donate. Julie Callaghan, Chief Operating Officer of Fundraising at Breast Cancer Trials, emphasised the need: "The type of breast cancer Bec has carries a high risk of recurrence... The OLIO trial offers women like Bec the chance to access additional innovative therapies."
Funds are also raised through the Australian Women's Health Diary (priced at $19.99), which has raised $20.5 million for research over 26 years. For Bec and her mother Jill, who has watched her daughter's battle, the mission is clear. "We need research to find better, kinder answers for breast cancer," Jill said.
