A North-East woman has written a poem about her fight against cancer to encourage others battling with the disease. Women's Editor Christen Pears speaks to her

CHRISTINE Ridley Henderson has been diagnosed with cancer three times in the last six years but the mother of two has never let it get her down.

"I first had cancer six years ago but it came back last year. That was devastating, absolutely devastating. But my father used to say if you keep your mind strong, you can overcome most things in life and I think that's true," she says.

Last month, Christine was told the cancer had returned and she is now waiting to start another course of chemotherapy. "I'm still feeling positive and I just want to get the chemotherapy started. I'm going to fight this all the way."

Christine, who lives in Sunderland, has just had a poem about her experiences published in an inspirational anthology called Character Building.

"I've written other poems and I thought it might help me to write down what I was feeling about the cancer. I think it helped to get everything down on paper. It's about what happened to me but it's not depressing. What I wrote was to encourage people, to uplift them and give them hope."

Character Building is a collection of short stories and poems about love, loss, life and survival. It is designed to raise the reader's spirits, change their perspective on life, appreciate what they have and motivate them to lead life to the full.

As well as pieces by members of the public, it includes Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, If, and contributions from TV presenters Anthea Turner and Anna Walker.

Christine says: "My friend's daughter is in PR and she knew about the book and suggested I write something for it. I was thrilled it was accepted because I think it might help other people."

The 54-year-old says one of the most difficult things to have to come to terms with was losing her hair. "I didn't have fantastic hair but it was long and when I knew I was going to lose it, it was such a blow. I felt that it was a kind of symbol of what I was going through."

She got through the ordeal, thanks to the support of her husband David and sons Daniel and Nigel, as well as other family members and friends.

"These are hard times but it's not so bad if you have support," she says.

I was also very lucky to have a brilliant consultant."

Christine started writing poetry a few years ago and now writes regularly. "I write about anything that takes my fancy, whether it's something like cancer or the family or even the cat."

Her other published poems include one about Sunderland becoming a city and a friend's autistic son. She has also written a poem about the Queen's Golden Jubilee.