- After her own breast cancer journey, Cheryl discovered soft knitted prostheses to be far more comfortable than silicone ones
- With support, she launched Knitted Knockers Australia to provide free prostheses to mastectomy survivors
- The charity grew nationwide, now supported by thousands of volunteers and changing lives through comfort, confidence and care
Here she shares her story in her own words.
Listening to my friend Julie as she nattered away about a charity initiative she’d heard of, my ears pricked up.
‘That’s a good idea,’ I said, my interest piqued in an organisation called Knitted Knockers, based in the US. They provided soft, cotton knitted prostheses free for women who’d had a mastectomy.
‘I’m going to make one to try out,’ I told Julie.
Twenty years earlier, then a fit and healthy 42-year-old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram and biopsy.
Following a lumpectomy to clear the cancer, unfortunately it reared its ugly head again within a year and I decided to have my right breast removed.
Recovering from the mastectomy, I intended to have a breast reconstruction, but my wonderful husband Ian, then 56, fell sick and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Devastatingly, he passed away in 2008, aged 57, and my post-op plans took a back seat.
Making do with a silicone prosthesis was by no means perfect. It was hot, heavy and cumbersome. But, muddling through grief, it was the least of my worries.
Now it was October 2013 and, seeing these knitted prostheses, I was keen to try one for size and comfort.
The only thing was… I couldn’t knit for toffee!
‘Will you make this for me?’ I asked my mum, Joan, showing her the cup size pattern.
‘Mum dug out a ball of white wool and got click-clacking.’
A dab hand with a pair of needles, she happily dug out a ball of white wool and got click-clacking.
‘Here you go,’ she said, gifting me the finished knitted casing.
Filling it with soft toy stuffing, I placed my new boob into my bra cup.
‘It’s so comfortable,’ I marvelled, posing in the mirror. ‘It looks so natural and real, too.’
‘We need to make these available in Australia for all women who’ve had a mastectomy,’ I told Mum and my kids, Anita, then 40, Clay, 31, Chad, 20, and Brittany, 17.
‘I can make more,’ Mum kindly offered.
With that I contacted Knitted Knockers in America and asked them if I could launch it in Australia.
With their blessing, I registered the charity in Australia.
Then Julie – a keen knitter – offered to adapt the pattern to suit Aussie sizing.
Soon after, attending a local Biggest Morning Tea event, I was the guest speaker and introduced everyone to the Knitted Knockers charity.
‘We’ll take 40 of them,’ a McGrath Foundation breast cancer nurse said afterwards.
READ MORE: Breast cancer survivors support group
My eyes widened, I was pleased as punch, but in a pickle as we didn’t have the supply to meet the demand.
Desperate for knitters, Julie – who was president of our local Country Women’s Association – rallied the CWA ladies together.
Thankfully, we quickly amassed a small army of volunteers willing to knit knockers to gift to mastectomy survivors, made using the softest Bendigo Woollen Mills 8 ply cotton yarn.
Many of our knitters were either battling breast cancer themselves, survivors, or knew a family member or friend who’d been touched by the disease.
When the knitted casings were finished, the kind-hearted individuals mailed the creations to me before being stuffed by our registered volunteers.
‘Word spread like wildfire.’
Word spread like wildfire and soon emails of expressions of interest from people wanting to become registered Knitted Knockers volunteers – as well as hospitals, charities, organisations and individuals wanting our knitted prostheses – were clogging my inbox!
READ MORE: Breast cancer survivor: I’m running marathons topless!
By 2015, my local charity project had snowballed to a state-wide initiative, and volunteers were launching Knitted Knockers branches in their hometowns all over Australia.
In the 12 years since Knitted Knockers was founded, we’ve made tens of thousands of knitted knockers. My mum alone – who sadly passed away a few years ago, aged 88 – made over 200.
Now we have 17,500 volunteers and the reaction when someone receives one of our prosthesis is the same every time – surprise at their comfort, followed by gratitude.
‘She felt like she had her own boobs back.’
One lady, who lived in outback Australia, told me she felt like she had her own boobs back. She recommended them to other breast cancer friends in rural communities who had no idea they existed.
Another woman loved the fact they were washable and, as she was just eight weeks post-op, their softness was just right for her recovery. More importantly to her though, she was thrilled to be able to put up a good front and still feel feminine.
READ MORE: My baby found my breast cancer
An email I received from a recipient not long ago particularly moved me.
I could not stop looking in the mirror, I looked normal again. Cancer has been such a jolly challenging journey, and I am sadly not finished yet, but these knitted knockers just made my day, she wrote.
With no grants or government funding, we rely solely on kind donations and fundraising events we organise, and we’re still struggling to keep up with demand.
While some credit me as a charity champ, Knitted Knockers wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for our army of fake boob-making buddies.
It’s humbling to know we’re changing lives and I just love being part of something that makes such a difference to so many.
For more visit knittedknockersaustralia.com
