Three sisters were each diagnosed with breast cancer within three months. Here’s what they want you to know

Mary, Majella and Patrica were already close, but their unexpected battle has united them even more. Erin McCafferty shares their journey of resilience and how they’ve stayed brave throughout illness

Sisters, Mary, Patricia and Majella Leavy who were all diagnosed with breast cancer within months of each other.

Erin McCafferty

One in seven women in Ireland is diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their life. There is evidence of a genetic link with some forms, but in the case of Mary Noonan, both she and her two sisters were found to have breast cancer all within a three-month period, and yet there’s no history of the disease in their family.

Mary, who is one of 10 and the eldest of four sisters, first noticed a change in the shape of her breast last June.