East Lothian gran 'tried to keep life-changing diagnosis to herself'

A kind-hearted East Lothian woman is taking on an epic challenge to help raise money for cancer support after her gran's devastating diagnosis.

Shakira Law, 18, from Musselburgh is preparing to skydive 10,000 feet and "put her fears aside" on behalf of her nana after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023. Morag Law, 78, delayed letting her family know that she was getting checked out by doctors as she didn't want to worry anyone.

Shakira has said that her gran is an "absolute trooper" and when she found out about her diagnosis she was "devastated". The 18-year-old described her gran as being like a "second mum" to her and feels like now is the right time to help the charity that has made a huge difference to Morag.

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Shakira said: "Within the space of two months, my gran was given the diagnosis, had two surgeries, a course of treatment plus life long medication.

"She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023, and it all feels like such a blur. I am so close to her and she tried to keep her diagnosis to herself and didn't let us know that she had a lump and delayed getting checked out until birthdays had passed.

"I am not even sure how long she had the lump for before she said because some of the information was kept from me at the start in order to not upset me.

"When I found out, I felt like the whole world was going to swallow me up because she really is like a second mum to me. She always looked after us when my mum was working. She is everything to me - she's amazing.

"She would do anything to help anyone in a heartbeat and I can't even put it into words how much she means to me. My gran faced this whole journey by being so brave and resilient so I've decided to give something back and also try be as brave as her by doing this skydive".

Morag's family are still awaiting for her next scan for her to get the all-clear and she is still getting treatment to this day. However, Shakira said that you "wouldn't think that she has gone through everything that she has done" over the past few months.

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Shakira is taking on the skydive on July 29 in St Andrew's in order to raise money for Macmillan due to the help they offered her gran.

She said: "My gran is just amazing. After the surgery, even the doctors said that they couldn't believe she had been through it. She was up eating toast, having coffee and she has just been so strong with it all.

"You wouldn't believe she has been through everything she has gone through. I decided on Macmillan charity because they have helped us out with any money support worries, they would call to check in on her regularly and gave her a space to discuss her feelings. They also assisted with new clothing and comforts for during and post surgery.

"I am really scared to do the skydive if I am being honest. I did a helicopter ride about a month ago and when I booked that, I wasn’t too scared, but the idea of falling 10,000 ft is nerve racking especially since I am doing it myself.

"My mum is so scared for me too. I am doing it four days after her birthday as well."

You can donate to Shakira's Go Fund Me here.