CHADDERTON breast cancer survivor Sharon Quinnell has described the engraved bench commemorating her brave 20-year battle with the disease as "absolutely beautiful".
The bench outside Chadderton town hall was unveiled last Thursday in a twist on the "in memoriam" benches often seen in beauty spots around the country.
The bench attests to her recovery from cancer and salutes the scientists, doctors and nurses who are making game-changing progress in tackling the illness.
It was revealed to launch the "RE-Write Cancer" campaign, a £20 million joint fundraising appeal by Cancer Research UK, The Christie Charitable Fund and the University of Manchester.
Its aim is to help meet the cost of a new £150 million cancer research facility which bring together the largest concentration of scientists, doctors and nurses in Europe to collaborate and accelerate progress for cancer patients, due to open in 2022, and will be twice the size of the Paterson building which was extensively damaged by fire in 2017.
Sharon, 55, who works as a PA at North Manchester General Hospital where she underwent much of her treatment, told The Oldham Times: "The bench is absolutely beautiful. I've had wonderful feedback about it from friends and on social media.
"It's an honour to be involved in the Re-Write Cancer campaign.
"Plans for the new research building sound exciting and it's amazing that such a world-leading facility will be built on my doorstep in the North West.
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