Kris Hallenga, founder of breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel!, has died at the age of 38.
International: CoppaFeel! founder Kris Hallenga dies aged 38 from breast cancer. She was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer 15 years ago.
That grim news inspired her to offer support to other young people in a similar position.
Confirming her death, CoppaFeel! said: “She approached life in a wildly creative, fun and fearless way, and showed us that it is possible to live life to the full with cancer.”
Hallenga was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, when she was in her early 20s – after being turned away from GP help for more than a year, her charity says.
By then, the disease was terminal.
She was determined the disease was not seen as something affecting only older women. Through her charity, she fought to raise awareness of breast cancer in young people.
CoppaFeel!’s mission became to educate young people about why they should start checking from a younger age so that all breast cancer is diagnosed early.
In a statement on its website, the charity said: “She hasn’t lost a battle, she wasn’t in a fight and she certainly wouldn’t want you to see her death as tragic.”
It added that she had died “with fulfilment and a heart full of love”.
Alongside her philanthropic work, Hallenga was also a columnist at The Sun.
In 2014, a documentary about her life and work – Kris: Dying to Live – was aired on BBC Three.
In it, she said: “I feel like I’m a voice for other girls going through [cancer]. Every day that I enjoy, that I am grateful for, is another level of acceptance for me.”
She added: “We are all going to die. I am just aware that it might happen sooner than I possibly, potentially had planned.”
CoppaFeel! founder Kris Hallenga dies aged 38 from breast cancer
