Last year, Chris Baxter showed her scars from a double mastectomy in a topless photo shoot - and now she's done it again. She tells Women's Editor Sarah Foster why she wants the world to see her post-operation shape

WITH her tousled curls and flawless makeup, Chris Baxter could be just another face in a magazine. A middle-aged woman with youthful looks and a lean physique, she could be modelling the latest trend. Yet as your eyes travel down the page, you realise that's not why Chris is featured.

Her torso, where there are scars instead of breasts, is compelling. At first it jars - you can't quite grasp what you are looking at - but then you get used to its stark flatness. The more you study Chris's picture, absorb the confidence of her pose, the more you start to see its beauty.

It was just eight weeks after having surgery when Chris, 49, had the photograph taken. Known for her courage and forthright views, she was asked by Closer magazine to tell her story. She did so - and took her clothes off for the camera - in the hope of helping others affected by cancer.

Sitting in the office of her business, Baxter Promotions, which she runs with her husband Geoff, she recalls how hard the decision was. "After I had my operation in December 2004, I was approached by Closer magazine to do a shoot to raise awareness," says Chris. "I'm a very logical person and I think things through before I do them. I think, 'where will it lead and will it be misconstrued?' At the time, I had been speaking to some counsellors and they had said how well I was coping. I thought 'if I can do this and if it gets one person across the doorstep, then I'll do it'."

Having given her consent, Chris, who lives in Middlesbrough, was called for the actual shoot. She says it was a good experience. "Before the operation, I was quite relaxed about my body - I never flaunted it but I always used to like to look nice. I always wore fitted clothing," she says. "When I went for the photo shoot, it was a purely female crew and everyone made me feel comfortable. They were quite conscious of how I felt in that they always kept me covered up. I enjoyed it. I think it was liberating. The way I look at it is it's not the same as showing your boobs because there are no boobs there. My chest is just the same as a man's chest."

For Chris, the topless image is more than just a photograph - it's a gesture of defiance against cancer. Although she developed it only recently, it has been a constant throughout her life.

"When I was 13, my dad had stomach and lung cancer," she says. "He worked as a railway guard and he only found out when he had an accident where he was crushed between two vans. I remember it to this day. It was actually the day that Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales and we were having this big street party when we got the news. It was totally devastating. It must have really left a mark because that day, I started having nightmares."

By a quirk of fate, it was when things were at their worst that Chris met her future husband. "The night before my dad died I went out with my friend Joyce and met Geoff," she says. "The next day he called me and he just integrated into the family. Something good came out of something bad."

But further tragedy was to come. First two aunts and an uncle, then Chris's mother developed cancer. She says this came as a huge blow. "I was 21 or 22 and it was terrible," she says. "I can remember when she showed me the great big lump in her breast. She had one breast off and radiotherapy but she never really picked up after that. She was ill for 18 months and she lived with us. We were very close. She loved Geoff just the same as if he was her own child."

Worried for their own health when their mother died, Chris and her sister Jackie sought doctors' advice. They were sent for regular screening and, as a precaution, Jackie had her breasts removed. Yet despite all this, she still developed cancer. "At the end of 1997 Jackie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer," says Chris. "At the time they (the doctors) didn't realise that breast and ovarian cancer went hand in hand. It was horrendous. I suppose it was like a kick in the stomach because we thought all the bases were covered."

Jackie lived for five more years, in which she fought for specialised treatment denied by her local hospital. She won her battle, and set up the charity Ova The Rainbow to help others. After Jackie's death, in 2002, Chris was advised to have her ovaries taken out.

"My consultant said, 'right, you've got to have your ovaries out as a precaution'," she says. "I didn't mind that, just going into hospital. I had this phobia of hospitals because everyone who had gone in hadn't come out, but I knew I had no choice."

So at the age of 47, and with much trepidation, Chris went in for surgery. Her one consolation was that, at least in the short term, her health was safe. "I thought I had until I was 50 without having to deal with breast cancer because everyone I knew who'd got it was 50 or over," she says.

"When I had my ovaries removed, I thought, 'right, that's three years I don't have to think about it'. I thought I was the lucky one because I have ME."

After the operation came financial hardship, with both Chris and Geoff being made redundant. Wanting to stay in the North-East, where their children Ryan, 21, and Shelley, 19, were settled, they set up Baxter Promotions in an office in Middlesbrough. They achieved success despite the odds, and in 2004, won the Government's Trading Places award, beating 3,300 other firms. It was at the height of their triumph that Chris found out that she had cancer.

"I remember the day I got the call we were up at Hardwick Hall with Tony Blair for the launch of a new programme," she says. "It was a consultant saying, 'we need to see you this afternoon' and I just knew straight away. He said, 'you need to have both breasts removed'. Because of the family history, I didn't really have any option."

For the second time, Chris had to face her fear of hospital. While the experience was traumatic, she somehow got through the double mastectomy. When offered the chance of reconstruction, her decision was clear. "I had my operation on December 15, 2004, and I didn't want reconstruction because there was no way I was going to be in hospital all over Christmas," she says. "To me, reconstruction is more about the vanity side. I can understand where a lot of women come from on that but my concern was to get better and get back on my feet and be there for my family."

While she knows she can change her mind, at least for now, Chris is happy not having breasts. She says Geoff's attitude has really helped. "Geoff has been absolutely fantastic," she says. "He said, 'you're still the same to me. Whether you have breasts or not, I still love you'. I think that's the most wonderful thing he could have done for me."

Yet she is only too aware that other women are not so lucky. It's mainly for them that Chris has done another topless photo shoot, this time for The Sun.

"I've spoken to other breast cancer patients and if they don't conform to the female shape, they don't have the support of their partner. That must be a terrible position to be in" she says. "The overwhelming emotion is that women feel less like women when they've had a breast or both breasts taken off. I'm on this campaign to say to people that you don't have to conform to the female shape to be female or to look and feel attractive."

As far as her health goes, thanks to good nutrition and holistic care, Chris says she's fighting fit. Having come this far, she feels she still has much to achieve. "I feel as though I've hopefully closed the door on cancer and now I can do some good," she says.