Rebecca Helen Measures[1] (born 13 October 1981 in Derbyshire, England), from Bakewell, Derbyshire, is a freelance radio presenter and a professional charity fund-raiser.
She is a regular cover presenter on BBC Radio Sheffield. Before this, she was the host of the breakfast show on Peak FM, an independent local radio station in Derbyshire.
Before radio, she held a variety of jobs including being an extra for the locally filmed television series Peak Practice before moving into radio.
In 2004, Measures, then 23, decided to have a double mastectomy after a genetic test revealed that she had an 80 to 90 per cent risk of developing breast cancer: she is a BRCA1 gene carrier.[2] Both her mother and a cousin, Helen, had suffered from the same illness. On 6 June 2006, ITV broadcast a documentary entitled My Breasts or My Life about her decision to have her breasts removed. The programme, filmed over two years, follows the decision and preparation for the operation as well as her, and her family's, feelings afterwards.[3]
To help raise funds to build Europe's first breast cancer prevention centre, she organised a calendar of tasteful, naked photographs of different local people including members of Chesterfield FC.
In October 2006, a book detailing her life, decision and operation was published called No Big Deal by Peak FM Newsreader Simon Towers on Boltneck Publishings; a song bearing the same title was also released in February 2007 by Ovacast featuring Becky on vocals. It has reached #67 on the UK Singles Chart.
Measures was for a time a volunteer dog walker for the Chesterfield & North Derbyshire Branch of the RSPCA, and was a guest judge at their Fun Dog Show on 17 June 2007.
In 2017, after having two children, Measures opted to have a hysterectomy as a preventative measure against womb-related cancers.[4]
References edit
- ^ "Rebecca Helen MEASURES personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Companies House. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ Hague, Cheryl (21 October 2017). "Mum, 36, is to have her womb removed to avoid cancer". DerbyshireLive. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "My Breasts or My Life". ClickView. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Chesterfield's Becky Measures to have womb removed". Derbyshire Times. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
External links edit
- Becky Measures' homepage
- Becky Measures page on the Peak FM website
- Matlock Mercury article about double breast mastectomy decision - 28 October 2004, Retrieved 24 May 2006
- Becky Measures on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour
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