Anna's Story
“I felt I’d been very lucky in my cancer diagnosis, I’d been very lucky in my treatment and recovery, and I’ve been very lucky in my family and support. Is there something I can do to give back?”
Anna Hickey, 55, from Cork, is a black belt martial artist and breast cancer survivor. She was two gradings away from receiving her black belt in Korean martial arts when she was diagnosed.
Anna’s over-50 Breast check mammogram was delayed due to the Covid pandemic. Once she had her initial scans in August 2023, the doctors found something they wanted to investigate further. She had to undergo more tests, like a biopsy and an ultrasound. Without any signs or symptoms, Anna was diagnosed that November with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early form of breast cancer. “It took a while to get your head around it,” she says.
One of her lymph nodes were removed in December 2023. The following February, Anna had one surgery with two different surgical teams. She had a single mastectomy on the right side of her body and had a reconstruction surgery in the same breast using skin, fat, and blood vessels from her lower abdomen. After almost a year of recovery, infections, physiotherapy and tests, Anna had a final surgery in December 2024 for wound corrections.
“It was tough, the recovery was hard with a lot of infections and physiotherapy for months, but I was delighted that I did the surgeries all at the same time.”
For Anna, having both the mastectomy and reconstruction was the right decision for her. “It meant while I had a mastectomy, I never had to deal with the mental side of not having my right breast,” she says. Though if someone was faced with a similar decision, she would also encourage them to listen to all the options before making the decision.
Her cancer was caught early enough that she didn’t require further treatment beyond the single mastectomy. Though with the recovery of the surgery, the IT professional was out of work for almost 12 months.
“I went back to the same job, to the same team, with whatever changes happened in 12 months. But you’re not the same person, because you’ve had such a trauma. I am slightly more open now. When people ask me how I am now, I tell them.”
Anna says she is grateful that she had a big support system, with her family, friends and work colleagues. She adds that there is lots of support available, even if your system isn’t as big as hers was.
“If you don’t have a support structure there’s one sitting, waiting for anyone who gets a cancer diagnosis.” These supports comprise of nurses, and support from charities like the Irish Cancer Society.
“Go to the scans, go to the checks. If you’re diagnosed, talk to people,” she says. “Whatever you’re going through, someone has gone through already.”
She encourages little tips like bringing a sandwich with you to the hospital during appointments or bringing a fan for hospital stays. “It’s just this little bit of comfort and support. It can make such a big difference to people,” she says.
“Although I didn’t have to grapple with questions like ‘will this be fatal?’ or ‘what about my children?’, it still brought my brain back to us being a bit more vulnerable than we think, and small things can upset us.”
Anna returned to martial arts in February 2025, a year after her surgery. In September 2025, she competed at the Kuk Sool Won European Championships in Rotterdam, where she was promoted to Jo Kyo Nim 1st degree, won two medals, and was awarded her black belt. Anna’s husband, daughter and son also compete in martial arts.
“Martial arts is a great community, and a great support. Getting my black belt was a fabulous achievement,” she says. “During my physical recovery, I used the exercises and stretches to train around my illness, so that you can keep the community, family and support – you do what you can do.”
