A Belfast woman has spoken about how she was able to achieve her life-long dream after her battle with cancer.
Evelyn Trotter, 55, from North Belfast, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. She had been working in childcare but had to take time off for a series of treatments.
But she didn't let this keep her down, instead focusing on positives and planning for the future.
Read more: Belfast teacher's award nomination for increasing literacy levels through film
Evelyn has been in remission for the past four years and was able to achieve her dream of opening her own day care business during lockdown.
She's hoping to spread a message of hope and positivity to other people who may be dealing with a cancer diagnosis, to show that anything is possible.
"Opening this place was just something I needed to do - something I had to focus on," she told Belfast Live.
"It was a big dream of mine for a long time. I've worked with children for well over 20 years now in other day care settings.
"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer I didn't want to take the option where I just sit at home. I'd spent so many years working full time, even though it's a serious illness, it will really bring you down if you let it.
"I had two surgeries, I had six months of chemo, I had radiotherapy after that. Like anybody else, you can end up quite sick after having the treatment. There were days I was being picked off the floor after fainting.
"But you have to stay strong and be positive for yourself. I think setting up here is a good way to show people that they will pull back, they will get stronger.
"If they have a positive outlook, if there's something they want to do - don't let cancer stop you, go ahead and do it."
Despite taking some time off work after first being diagnosed with breast cancer, Evelyn needed to be kept busy and was soon back looking after children.
"I couldn't cope with sitting in the house all day, I needed to get back to work," Evelyn said.
"I did go back while I was still having radiotherapy as the manager where I was working went off for maternity so I was going in to cover her. I was going there in the morning, then getting radiotherapy later in the day."
The mum-of-three said opening Wee Bunnies Day Care on the Antrim Road was a good thing for her to focus on, with her cancer journey spurring her on to take the risk.
The centre started off with one room and two children, and in a short space of time now has five rooms operating and 40 children attending on a daily basis.
Although recognising that people can be affected by things in different ways, Evelyn is urging people not to let cancer "destroy their lives."
She added: "It's getting the message out there to people that you need to try and keep yourself as strong as possible by having a positive outlook. With that positive outlook, you can achieve what you want to achieve.
"For some people, cancer can take over and destroy their lives. You can still focus on your dreams and achieve your goals. It's such a horrible thing, it can just destroy some people.
"Some people can sit at home with it, allow it to take over. I've never been like that, I've always been someone wanting to get up and going. Even if I have a flu or something and have been told to stay in bed for a few days I really struggle, I need to be doing something."
Evelyn said she believes her day care business is "providing a good service to people in the area", due to the diversity of those who attend.
Currently, she said they have children from Greece, Turkey, Italy, China, and India at the childcare centre on a regular basis. As a result, they work hard to celebrate differing cultures on a regular basis.
When the opening of Wee Bunnies during lockdown, Evelyn said it was also important to her that they kept prices low.
She added: "A lot of people were on furlough when we opened, or had maybe lost their jobs during lockdown. We had to keep prices reasonable as many didn't want to take their child out of a routine. They wanted them to keep interacting with children of the same age."
Stating that opening the business has been "hard work and stressful", Evelyn said it has been worth it to achieve her goal and she's hoping her story can inspire others in a similar position.
Evelyn said: "You hear a lot of people saying they'd love to do something, then got an illness and can't do it anymore. You could spend the next 10 years asking why you didn't do something when you could have.
"You have to do what you can while you can - I mean there's no guarantee I'm not going to get cancer again. But you can't just sit about every day wondering if every pain you get is cancer, that's what happens if you let yourself. For a lot of people it can just take over and drag them right down."
Read more: Belfast football club in desperate need of own training facilities
Read more: Belfast alterations shop celebrating 40 years in business
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up to our free newsletter.
