A grandmother with terminal cancer and just months left to live is pursuing her life-long dreams of skydiving and swimming with dolphins.
Doctors gave Tanya Huckstep the devastating news she had between six and nine months left after the breast cancer she has fought since 2021 worsened.
But, despite a grueling battle through chemotherapy and a mastectomy, the courageous 53-year-old from Herne Bay, Kent, still fulfilled her skydiving dream.
Tanya has vowed to have as much fun as possible despite her heartbreaking situation.
She said: “It’s about making the most of the time I have left and making the most memories I can with my family. Everyone knows one day you’re going to die but for me, because I know it’s coming, I can use that as an advantage — I think planning things to look forward to is what’s keeping me going.”
Since receiving her initial diagnosis, Tanya has got matching tattoos with her daughters and has also traveled to Benidorm, Lanzarote, and the Dominican Republic where she swam with dolphins.
She added: “I’ve never cried so much in my life — it was the most magical experience. It’s like they knew I wasn’t well, they kept on tilting their heads to the side as if they knew and swimming up to me.”
Before she was forced to medically retire, Tanya worked for Kent County Council caring for dementia patients for 32 years.
Her eldest daughter Megan said: “She’s always the first to help someone in need. Us three girls are so proud of how she’s dealt with everything she’s been through, how she’s kept fighting every day.”
As a huge fan of reggae music, the last big thing on Tanya’s wish list is a trip to Jamaica so her friends and family have been raising money through a GoFundMe page to make her dream a reality.
