A local breast cancer survivor is raising money for a cancer charity by going “way out” of her comfort zone to undertake a survival challenge in the Arctic.

This weekend, on March 20, Laurine Lilley from Enniskillen will join a group from Northern Ireland (NI) to embark on the ‘Arctic Survival Sweden’ challenge with Cancer Focus NI.

“I am the only one from Fermanagh going, and I have to raise £3,500 for Cancer Focus NI which will help the good folk of NI,” said Laurine, adding: “Many people have been so generous in giving me donations, also donating on my GoFundMe page on Facebook (https://tinyurl.com/2p9xveb5).

Although she is raising funds for Cancer Focus NI through ‘Arctic Survival Sweden’, Laurine is also involved with Fermanagh-based cancer charity, SWELL (Supported We Live Life).

“Most people will know me from the new cancer charity, called SWELL. The doors were opened in September, 2021, for anyone living with or who has had a cancer diagnosis,” she said.

Laurine explained that she has chosen to do this trip with Cancer Focus NI because she is a breast cancer survivor herself, and hopes she will inspire others to take part in similar challenges in the future.

“I hope that by me doing this challenge, that it can show other cancer patients what you can do if you are able to. For some, going for a short walk takes great effort,” she said.

Although the experience will be a challenge for all taking part, as a cancer survivor living with side effects from treatment, Laurine will also be dealing with extra challenges along the way.

She said: “This will be a hard challenge, with the side effects that cancer has left me with [including] Lymphoedema.”

Earlier this week, ahead of setting off to Sweden, Laurine was measured for a new sleeve by her physiotherapist to keep the swelling in her arm under control when she is doing physical work, because she has no lymph nodes to keep the fluid drained out of her arm.

“I will be keeping up my exercises to stop the build-up of fluid,” said Laurine, who is also dealing with bone damage as a result of chemotherapy in one of her feet, and neuropathic pain from radiotherapy.

“[These are] just a few of the side effects that I am living with today. I manage my symptoms by mind over matter,” she added.

Explaining that by doing ‘Arctic Survival Sweden’, she will be “way out” of her “comfort zone”, Laurine said: “Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t camp, [I don’t] sleep in a sleeping bag and I can’t ski – and I will be doing all three!”

To undertake the challenge, Laurine and the group will be travelling to the base camp in Follinge, Sweden which is 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

“We will be living in a log cabin; no electric – but the Wi-Fi is supposed to be great – for three days to acclimatise.

“It can be -30 degrees,” she said, going on to tell this newspaper that she has her pink Crocs packed after being advised that they are the best footwear to wear for late night bathroom excursions in the snow.

Over the three days, the group will be building an igloo that they will be sleeping in for the following three nights.

“What I found amazing is that the temperature can be as high as three degrees inside. There will be outdoor shelters and if there are no blizzards, we will sleep there too,” said Laurine, noting that they will travel up to 100 miles a day by trekking, husky driving and “whizzing about in snow mobiles”.

“It will be a great test to me, and with all the cancer treatment side effects,” she added.

Going on to talk about the work of Cancer Focus NI, such as the provision of health and wellbeing courses, Laurine added: “We hope that Cancer Focus can deliver more programmes throughout the year, because usually people in Fermanagh would have further to travel to avail of their services.”