Julia Bradbury says 'staring death in face' over cancer changed her 'forever'
Every now and again, Julia Bradbury is caught off guard by sudden waves of grief that can unexpectedly take hold.
Only recently, she was left in tears in a recording studio while voicing the audio version of her new book, which touches upon her breast cancer fight.
“There were several occasions where I just choked up and I was crying and I had to walk away and take some time out,” she says. "I had brilliant producers and they were incredibly understanding and said, ‘Look, it’s fine, just take it as slowly as you like.’
“I am listening to my book now and I haven’t got to that chapter yet, but I think you’ll hear the catch in my throat and you’ll know that I was sad or that I was crying at that stage. It surprised me actually how those emotions regurgitate and how strong they still are.”
Two years on since her diagnosis and mastectomy, which turned her world upside down, it is little wonder the ordeal still feels so raw. From that fateful day in the consultant’s office up until her surgery, Countryfile star Julia tried to face her cancer with a smile, however hard. After all, as a mum to three young children, family life had to keep going on.
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Julia recently recorded an audio version of her new book, touching on her battle with breast cancer (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)But, as she sits bathed in autumn sunshine in her West London garden, having overhauled her life from sleep, to food to exercise, that smile seems firmly back. But she says the mental and emotional scars of her ordeal are understandably taking a little longer to heal.
“A cancer diagnosis changes you forever because you do inevitably look death in the eyes, and then start to think about, how many days do I have left on Earth,” she says. "So, it’s something that you have to work through emotionally constantly, but I don’t let it gnaw away at me. Although I’m aware of its presence in my life, I don’t want it to rule my life and be something I’m constantly worried about. I think that can be very harmful and have a detrimental impact. I’d rather work on thinking and focusing on the things I do have, not the things that I don’t have, and enjoy every day.”
Julia in hospital recieving treatment for her breast cancerJulia is opening up as part of our spin-off Men in Mind podcast, called Outdoors in Mind.
The vital series, to support GO Outdoors and charity Mind’s Hats On For Mind campaign, encourages people to talk about their mental health, as well as embrace the benefits of getting outdoors.
It comes as Mind found 94% of people who took part in outdoor exercise felt the benefits to their mental health. It is a cause close to Julia’s heart, whose book is called Walk Yourself Happy, and who has often sought solace in nature during some of her life’s other tough moments, including her battle with endometriosis in her 30s.
Julia is also an ambassador for Stress Awareness Day (David Venni)She recalls one such occasion when she was filming a documentary in Iceland when she desperately hoped she was pregnant. "I found myself having to pee on a stick in a hut at the edge of a volcano to find out whether or not I was pregnant,” she says.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t, and I was immediately crushed, but I couldn’t share it with anybody there. I felt very sad and a bit let down by my body and I thought, ‘Am I ever going to become a mum?’ I had all of these complicated feelings and emotions rushing through me.” But she says the subsequent “three days of hard hiking” in the spectacular scenery allowed her to work through the “crushing disappointment”.
“Walking is my therapist, and it was very therapeutic, very cathartic to be able to do that. And actually when we finished the trek I reassured myself, ‘You know what? My body is capable. I’ve managed this.’ I felt hopeful my body was capable of more and that one day I might be able to fall pregnant.”
Julia her children walking at Mam Tor in the Peak DistrictAnd she duly did, having son Zephyr, now 12, around the time of her 40th birthday, and then four years later, twin daughters Xanthe and Zena, now eight, with husband Gerard Cunningham. Julia says how her inability to conceive was one of the reasons she has had therapy in the past, as well as issues at work.
“I went through a very stressful time in my mid-30s… I had somebody who I was working with that I didn’t get on with, and it was a very stressful relationship,” she says. “My endometriosis had also been diagnosed, so I just found it a very heavy time in my life and I wanted to go and talk to somebody who was completely disconnected from it.”
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The course of therapy helped her navigate through that moment, and she recalls a second round of counselling before having a mastectomy as well. “That was how to get ready for the new me, and I spent a lot of those sessions just crying,” she says.
Julia is teaming up with Tom Bryant for the vital Outdoors In Mind podcast, a Men In Mind special“And actually my therapist taught me some really good techniques… and also to accept that it is absolutely fine to feel this grief and sadness.”
As well as walking, her go-to techniques to cope with stress include mindfulness and breath work. In fact, at one point Julia pauses our chat to teach me how to do a “psychological sigh”, where we do two short inhales through our nose, and one long exhale through the mouth. “It’s lovely, and five minutes of that is the equivalent to 20 minutes of meditation… you are really calming yourself,” she says.
In the wake of her cancer diagnosis, she has not only overhauled her diet, including having steamed vegetables for breakfast, but also quit alcohol. “If I drink multiple units of alcohol a week I was told my risk of [cancer] recurrence increases by 28%,” she says.
“So, I don’t drink alcohol any more because that’s just not a risk for me that’s worth taking. I’ve had lots of great nights, I’ve danced on many tables, I’ve had some fun evenings at the bar and with my friends. But, all that said, I don’t miss it.”
As our chat draws to a close, it’s hard not to be left energised by Julia, who is just as likeable off screen as she is on. And while I’m not sold on eating broccoli before 9am just yet, you have to admire the very personal, and heartfelt, origins of her wellness drive.
“Cancer saved my life because it made me rethink my health,” she says.
Hear Julia on Outdoors in Mind, the Mirror’s brilliant new weekly podcast, and follow-up to Tom Bryant’s hugely popular Men in Mind series.The UK’s best-loved stars, both male and female this time, are joining host Tom to open up about their own mental health journey...in the Great Outdoors. Find us on Apple podcasts, or go to podfollow.com/outdoorsinmind. Alternatively, scan this QR code to get it. The vital new series supports mental health charity Mind’s Hats on for Mind campaign, in conjunction with GO Outdoors.
Julia is an ambassador for #HatsOnForMind, having designed her own hat and flask, available to purchase online and in-store at partner retailers including GO Outdoors, Blacks, Millets, Naylors and Fishing Republic. 100% of profits from the campaign will go to Mind.
For support go to Mind.org.uk
Scan this QR code to grab the Outdoors In Mind podcastRead more similar news:
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