How camera-shy cancer survivor became Edinburgh MoonWalk poster girl

Fiona Morton is so averse to photography that she refused a formal wedding photographer at her wedding to husband Gary.

But she was happy to make an exception for the Walk the Walk charity behind the event in Edinburgh, and urged other Scots to dispel fears of going to the doctor over breast cancer.

More than 8,000 people will take to the streets from midnight tonight in the capital as some of the city’s landmarks are bathed in pink for the occasion.

Now in its seventh year, MoonWalk Edinburgh has raised more than £14 million from previous years towards Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, the Breast Cancer Institute at the Western General in Edinburgh and other projects.

Mrs Morton said she was happy for her face to be on posters and billboards ahead of the MoonWalk, despite her reluctance to pose for photographs.

The mother of three was diagnosed with the disease in June 2010 and had her right breast removed, without the need for chemotherapy thanks to the early detection.

Her daughter, Ciara, said they needed to be positive and vowed to do the MoonWalk that year. Now 47, Mrs Morton will again be taking part from the walk’s start in Inverleith Park with her daughter, supported by her husband and eldest son Callum. She said: “My husband has not stopped laughing because I’m on the posters and we didn’t have a photographer for our wedding.

“The word I focused on when diagnosed was ‘accept’ – why not me? At the time it was one in ten women and now it’s one in eight women affected. I didn’t see the mastectomy as a removal of part of me, but as a restoring to health. I didn’t choose reconstruction. I look down and it’s a visual reminder. And I got whistled at the other day.”

Mrs Morton said Scottish women are often afraid to go to see a doctor, though the majority of cases prove benign. Early detection saves lives and Mrs Morton urged more women and men to speak openly about breast cancer.

Tracy Somerville, business manager at Loopy Lorna’s Tea House in Morningside Road, is a first-time participant in the MoonWalk. The 38-year-old said she had been invited by a friend earlier this year, but it took on extra meaning when Loopy Lorna’s founder Gaynor Salisbury was diagnosed with secondary stage breast cancer.

Ms Somerville said: “I know how much she’s going through so this had extra meaning.”