Angel Shepherd-Bascom: Why cancer shouldn't stop you loving your body

Point of View is an ITV News series where we invite people to share their life experiences and what they've learned from them.

Angel Shepherd-Bascom kept her diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma - a type of blood cancer - to herself for almost a month.

When she was able to learn more about her condition and open up to her family, she "braved the shave" knowing it was likely she would lose her hair to treatment.

But it wasn't until Angel began chemotherapy that she noticed other changes to her body which knocked her confidence.

"Every time I would touch my eyebrows a hair would just come out," Angel recalled.

"Any time I would scratch myself my skin would be incredibly dark and it would bruise."

Only 22 years old at the time of her diagnosis, Angel felt anxious about her body and decided to turn to the online community and share her story.

A survey by charity Teenage Cancer Trust showed that nearly a quarter of young people were most worried about how cancer would affect their looks.

Now in remission, Angel is part of the Teenage Cancer Trust's new #StillMe campaign sharing how the cancer she once struggled to pronounce has made her stronger.

She added: "It shouldn't have taken cancer to make me really love myself, really value myself, but I'm thankful because it's shown me a whole new perspective on life."

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