COUNTRYFILE’S Julia Bradbury broke down in tears after going on a final run “to feel both boobs bouncing one last time” before her mastectomy.
The 51-year-old star was diagnosed with breast cancer last month, but has been trying to remain in good spirits with the help of her big sister Gina.
But the siblings have understandably faced ups and downs, and have now opened up about Julia’s cancer battle in a new interview.
Earlier this month, the TV favourite shared a poignant topless photo as she said “goodbye” to her left breast in a “final walk” ahead of surgery to have it removed.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, 60-year-old Gina recalled: “Julia’s not really a runner but last week she came in, hugged me and burst out crying. She said ‘I’ve just been for a run.’
“I said, ‘But you don’t like running?’ She said ‘No, I know, but I wanted to feel both my boobs bouncing for the last time’.
“That, to me, was so powerful. We were both crying then, in her kitchen.”
Julia is yet to find out whether or not her cancer has spread after the surgery, but shared her hope at being able to “get on with” her normal life.
She praised her sister for being by her side “every step of the way”, adding that they have “shared tears but also lots of laughs”.
Bidding farewell to her left breast, Julia had written on her Instagram account: “I’m going for my last walk in this body. I’m going for my last walk with these boobs. One of the the best bits of advice I’ve received in the weeks of my breast cancer diagnosis (thank you) .. is to say goodbye to my breast and to thank my body for all the sustenance, joy & life it has given me.
“Goodbye left boob.. I’ve breastfed my children with you, I’ve jumped into the sea with you, I’ve walked thousands of miles with you. And you’ve given me (and some others 
) pleasure along the way. Now it’s time to make way for something new.”
The mother-of-three opened up about her breast cancer diagnosis last month, and had her breast, along with the six centimetre tumour, removed in a mastectomy.
Last year, Julia had found a lump in her breast which proved to be a cluster of benign micro-cysts, and she had to have another mammogram this year.
The scan, which included an ultra sound and a physical examination, hadn’t returned anything alarming, so she almost didn’t go to her follow up appointment in September.
However, Gina encouraged her to keep the appointment, and so she did, only for her doctor to find a small shadow on her breast.
Julia, who has children Zeph, 10, and twins Zena and Xanthe, six, said: “I have to hope I have caught mine early enough.
“A mastectomy is a shattering thing to go through but it means that I am going to live and be here for my children.”
She continued: “Cancer has so many points, the diagnosis seems like everything, but it isn’t. It puts you on a pathway and you have to navigate that while holding back your emotions so you are not overwhelmed all the time.
“Right now I’m simply focused on having surgery because I don’t know how I am going to be, if I will have more cancer to deal with, how I will cope with recovery, how life will feel afterwards.”
