FOR many women it would be a decision almost too traumatic to comprehend.

But Hampshire woman Josephine Torrington says that choosing to have her breasts removed at the age of 31 is the only viable option if she wants to dramatically reduce the risk of developing a disease that could kill her.

Already she has lost several members of her family to cancer – most recently her mum, Sue, who died in March this year from ovarian cancer.

Her grandma, great grandmother and two aunts have also lost their battles with disease.

And now the teacher is determined to do all she can try and stop the cancer that has ravaged her family from potentially taking her life too.

It was in February this year, as Josephine cared for Sue in the last weeks of her life, that she discovered she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene mutation.

The “faulty gene” can be passed on through generations of families and significantly increases the risk of developing cancer.

For Josephine it meant an 80 per cent lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.

Her brother Stephen, 35, has it too. But the discovery of BRCA1 in the family came too late for sister Lindsay, 36, who found a lump in her breast which turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer in December last year. She has just finished a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, completed a single mastectomy and is waiting to complete the removal of her remaining breast.

Josephine, from Gosport, is just weeks away from going under the knife – but her focus is currently elsewhere as she prepares to take on an oar-inspiring charity challenge to raise money for vital research into cancer.

Next week she will join a host of celebrities and cancer survivors as they take to the water and paddle 120 miles in five days in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.

Josephine will pair up with TV celebrity and former Liberty X star Michelle Heaton – who has herself undergone a preventative double mastectomy after discovering the BRCA2 gene in her family – in a canoe for a day of the challenge taking place in North West England.

The keen sportswoman said: “This summer is looking to be my last with my body in full health. I lived this year to the best of my ability – I have taken part in a boxing event, travelled across Europe with the Transcontinental Bike Race and now I am taking part in the Stand Up To Cancer Canoe Challenge and I can’t wait to take part! It is going to be great to be part of the team.

“With all that is happening, I feel compelled to do all within my ability to raise awareness. I wish to be an advocate for families living with a history of cancer, so they might be aware of their choices if they too are at high risk.”

After having her breasts removed, Josephine will have to decide whether or not to have reconstructive surgery.

While it would be a given for many in her position, it’s not a straightforward decision for the supply teacher who would be forced to give up some of the sports she loves if she opts to have her breasts reconstructed with implants.

The tough decisions don’t end there – by the end of the year Josephine hopes to have started fertility treatment to give her the best chance possible of one day having children, despite the fact she faces a second major operation to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed before she turns 40.

Josephine said: “Having the double mastectomy was an immediate and obvious decision for me. Of course I have researched to make sure there are not any other options available, but right now there is nothing, so for me it is the sensible choice. My sister only wishes she could have had the option but we found out too late that BRCA1 was in our family.

“Thankfully I am not someone obsessed by looks – I am more about longevity and health and optimising that as best I can. But I know it’s going to be a very difficult winter.

“The fertility issue is more of an annoyance than anything else. I would always have wanted to have children as late as possible but now this is hurrying me, I am not ready to settle down yet and have a family.

“I tend to waiver between apprehension, annoyance and complete frustration by everything that I am facing, but I am determined that it will not be this cancer that kills me.”

JOSEPHINE will join TV celeb Michelle Heaton in a canoe during Stand Up To Cancer’s Great Canoe Challenge which aims to inspire people across the UK to raise money for game-changing research into the disease.

Starting in Chester next Monday September 25, the oar-inspiring rowers will navigate the canals and lochs of Warrington and Manchester before finishing at Liverpool’s Albert Dock on Friday 29 September.

A host of celebrity supporters are taking part as well as cancer survivors and those who have been affected by the disease.

A joint fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, Stand Up To Cancer aims to speed up the translation of incredible scientific discoveries into innovative cancer medicine, tests and treatment.

Jenny Makin, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Hampshire, said: “We are delighted that Josephine is taking on such an epic challenge for Stand Up To Cancer.

“The Great Canoe Challenge aims to inspire people to join the rebellion against cancer and raise funds for life-saving research. Our team of heroic paddlers will be joined by an army of celebrity supporters as they power their canoes towards the finish line.

“We’re calling on people to show their support and help fund game-changing research. Money raised will fund cutting-edge research that accelerates new cancer treatments and tests to UK patients to ultimately save more lives. One in two of us in the UK will develop cancer in our lifetime, so now is the time to act.”

Since it was launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer has raised more than £38million to fund over 40 clinical trials and research projects.

These include the development of the ‘chemo package’ to deliver treatment at the best time for the patient; testing arsenic as a weapon to make cancer implode and using viruses to seek and destroy cancer cells.