Copyright birminghammail
A mum who dismissed her back pain as nothing more than a pulled muscle was devastated to learn it was actually a symptom of breast cancer after scans revealed tumours had fractured her spine. Rachel McCormack, 38, had previously fought stage two breast cancer in 2015 but received the all-clear following chemotherapy and surgery, with annual mammograms keeping watch over her health. The mum-of-one started experiencing lower back pain in December 2024 but initially attributed it to gradual muscle strain from her work. Read more: Claudia says her and Tess's Strictly replacements 'locked in' She visited her GP and was referred for physiotherapy treatment. When the pain continued to "get worse" Rachel voiced her concerns to her breast team at Scarborough Hospital, with an MRI scan revealing her vertebrae had fractured due to tumours on her spine. Following a stage four metastatic breast cancer diagnosis in July 2025, she is currently receiving 12 weeks of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and body targeted therapy to reduce the tumour. With her prognosis "up in the air", Rachel has been informed the condition is incurable - prompting friends and family to launch a fundraising campaign to purchase a campervan so Rachel, partner James, 39, and daughter Iris, five, can enjoy "a little bit of freedom" between treatments. Rachel, a midwife from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, explained: "In clinical midwifery you are twisting and bending into all sorts of positions. "A bad back is not unusual for someone doing my job. "I went to physiotherapy and it just didn't get any better it just got worse. "I got in touch with my breast team and asked for a bone scan. "So ultimately the MRI showed one of my vertebrae was severely fractured due to the cancer. "The stats out there show the median amounts of time people live well for but it's very dependent on how it responds to treatment. "I'm in practical mode in terms of working out what treatments I need, day to day life and the practicalities of childcare. "I've got a five-year-old who goes to school and needs to be supported to have this normal life. "With the campervan we can pick up and go on a weekend if the weathers nice or I'm feeling good. "While still maintaining a normal life that you can't just throw up in air and walk away from in a situation like this even though feel like you might need to". Rachel's yearly mammograms following her initial diagnosis had consistently returned clear results, yet she had battled with "anxiety" over her cancer potentially returning. She explained: "In early days that was a scary time where I was not seeing anyone regularly and I knew there was a possibility it would come back, and managing anxiety thinking with every ache and pain 'is that something?'." Regarding the spinal fracture, Rachel will undergo regular monitoring during chemotherapy with the potential for surgical intervention further ahead. Having consistently fundraised throughout her remission years for Cancer Research and Macmillan, she has remained committed to raising awareness "especially around young people and breast cancer" Rachel expressed: "It's about raising that awareness that it does happen to women in their twenties and if you do suspect anything always get it checked out and push if you're not happy with it. "Yes unfortunately I do have secondary stage four cancer that's not going to be cured but I had a really good response to my primary diagnosis and I got 10 years clear - that's because I was diagnosed early enough to be diagnosed and treated effectively." A fundraising campaign initiated by a workmate to help the family purchase a campervan has already exceeded its goal of £15,000. "I feel fraudulent all these people raising money just for me," Rachel admitted. "The idea of campervan is it will give us a little bit of freedom and escape from treatment whilst also being able to maintain normality in life. "We talked the about idea of doing one of those big once in a lifetime trips but it's hard with an uncertain prognosis to know what to do. "For something that works for us we have a car to sell to put towards the fund. "My chemo is done at the end of November and we'll be in a position to do something around Christmas to make it a special memory".
