Teacher diagnosed with breast cancer twice to take on Walk for Wards

A Salisbury teacher who has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice is joining the Stars Appeal’s fundraising walk to say thank you to the Breast Unit team at Salisbury District Hospital, who cared for her. 

Jo Argyle is taking part in Walk for Wards, the flagship fundraising event for the Stars Appeal, Salisbury Hospital’s Charity, on Sunday, July 5th, at Wilton House.

Participants can walk 3k, 5k, 10k or 15k for their chosen ward or department. Walkers raising money for the Breast Unit will help fund a new £300,000 mammogram machine.

The Head of Maths at South Wilts Grammar School, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2016 when she was 41, said: “I was so convinced it was just a lump. I had all these scans and went to see the consultant, who told me they were treating it as breast cancer. I just cried, I said, ‘I don’t want this’. It was very hard telling my children, who were 10 at the time. It was a big shock for everybody.”

Scans found five tumours, and Jo underwent a mastectomy to remove her breast and had six rounds of chemotherapy, finishing her treatment in August 2016.

But in April last year, Jo found another lump where her breast had been removed. This time, she was cared for in the Stars Appeal Breast Unit, which opened in 2017. It is the first-ever dedicated unit for breast patients at Salisbury Hospital.

“They got me in very quickly and I had scans and two biopsies there and then. I started to cry, I knew then what it was, that the cancer was back,” adds Jo. “It was so traumatic the first time; to have it happen again was devastating.”

In June of 2025, Jo underwent surgery to remove the cancer and radiotherapy treatment. She has finished her treatment but continues to have regular checks and annual mammograms at the Breast Unit.

Jo, from Salisbury, said: “In 2016, the first time I was diagnosed, it was horrendous having to go to different departments for your scans and appointments. I had to go around carrying all my stuff, and then went to some non-descript place in the hospital. Now, you have it all in one place in the Breast Unit.

“The Breast Care nurses run the unit like their home. I feel completely at ease there. The Breast Care team look after you and take care of everything. The unit feels less like a hospital. The fitting room with all the prostheses in is beautiful. It’s a wonderful environment and it’s also the other small touches that the Stars Appeal provide like the shopping-type bag you put your clothes in that make it a really special place.”

Register for Walk for Wards on Sunday, July 5, at Wilton House for free at www.starsappeal.org or call 01722 429005. Entry includes lunch and admission to the Wilton House gardens and adventure playground.