A woman who was treated for cancer at the same time as her dad says they were “determined” to beat the disease together.
Leanne Head had just started her treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer when her family received more devastating news – her father, David Head, had cancer, too.
The 46-year-old and her 68-year-old father then underwent chemotherapy at the same time – and even had surgery just a day apart.
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“We both focused on the end goal, we were determined it wasn’t going to beat us,” Leanne, who is based in West Yorkshire, told Need To Know.
“We weren’t ready to give up.
“We kept up with our mind-over-matter mindset.
“Even when things got tough, we got each other through it”.
Leanne, a make-up artist, first noticed a “golf ball-sized” lump in her breast “out of nowhere” while showering and was seen by a doctor the next day.
Referred to the breast clinic at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield for an appointment within two weeks, Leanne was diagnosed with breast cancer the same day.
Leanne said: “When I got home and told my dad, we both burst out crying.
“I couldn’t even process how I would tell my son, who’s 11 years old.
“His other [paternal] granddad had passed away from cancer the October before I was diagnosed, so I knew he would think the worst.
“My dad instantly retired so that he could help me as best he could.
“At this point, we had no idea that he also was going to be diagnosed in a few weeks’ time.”
Of the shock of her diagnosis, Leanne said: “I was in total disbelief when I was officially diagnosed – I had no idea that it would be confirmed that very same day as my hospital appointment.
“Even though deep down my gut had told me it was cancer, I still wasn’t prepared.
“When the doctor said the word ‘cancer’, everything else he then said, I didn’t hear, it just sounded muffled.
“I remember him asking if I had any questions and the first thing I asked was if I was going to die.
“I know that may sound extreme but I was quite naïve about cancer at this point.
“I had quit my full time job at Farrow & Ball to concentrate on my dream job as a full-time make-up artist.”
Leanne waited two more weeks for biopsies, which ultimately confirmed she had triple negative breast cancer – an extremely aggressive form of the disease – in March 2025.
She underwent continuous hospital appointments for further biopsies, as well as having a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC line) fitted in order to begin chemotherapy.
Leanne’s treatment plan included 12 weekly sessions of chemotherapy, as well as four rounds of a chemo treatment nicknamed “the red devil” due to its colour.
Throughout the process, Leanne wore a cold cap, which freezes the hair follicles in order to protect it from chemotherapy and prevent total hair loss.
And she had undergone only a couple of chemotherapy treatments when she received the news that her dad, David, was ill too.
She said: “From around March time, Dad was complaining about not being able to swallow food properly and finding it extremely hard to digest.
“He went to the doctors a couple of times, before they referred him so a camera could be inserted down his throat.
“A few weeks later, when the results came back, he was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer.
“We actually couldn’t believe it.
“I was devastated, especially because he was told it could also possibly be in his lungs too, from the scan results.
“Luckily this wasn’t the case when he had a PET scan, later down the line.”
David’s treatment began in May 2025, and included eight rounds of chemo and surgery.
For some of David’s treatment, Leanne was able to be by his side.
“Our first treatment was chemotherapy,” she recalled.
“I’d had a couple before Dad started to have his, which meant I could explain the feeling and what to expect from it.
“On one of the days, we had our chemo on the same day and sat opposite each other in the ward.
“That day was very bizarre and the people on the ward were pretty shocked to say the least.”
The two also underwent surgery just a day apart, in September 2025.
David’s oesophagus was removed, while Leanne’s underwent a perforator flap breast reconstruction, where fat and muscle was taken from her back area to rebuild the breast after the cancer was removed.
They both also had lymph nodes removed – and fortunately, both surgeries were a success.
After surgery, Leanne underwent a number of radiotherapy sessions as well.
Treatment brought Leanne and David closer than ever, due to their shared experience.
She added: “We both talked a lot about it when we were alone, we could be honest with our fears when no one else was around.
“But the fears of not being able to help each other actually turned into that we could help each other more than we ever thought possible.
“We bonded through pure understanding of the effects of chemo, the recovery from operations, the anxiety of everything we were experiencing.
“We made a pact that we were going to be positive!
“We only focused on the end goal of recovery and this got us through it all.”
Leanne says her close-knit family is one of the main reasons she’s coped with the devastating experience.
Her mum, as well as her son’s father, worked extra hours to help Leanne financially, while her sister helped with childcare and looking after her dog.
She added: “Everyone pulled together to support each other.
“Although it did break my dad that he couldn’t be there for me at times – and the I felt the same about him.
“Dark humour definitely got us through – luckily we both have a good sense of humour and kept our positivity going throughout.
“It still feels all very surreal to be honest.
“I honestly have a lovely family and this made me realise it.
“My dad and I have always had a close relationship, but going through something like this isn’t exactly the norm for most families.
“I just strongly believe that this happened for a reason, so we could get each other through.”
David completed his cancer treatment this month (Jan 2026) and rang the ball last week.
For Leanne, treatment is still ongoing and she is expected to finish it all in June.
While she is now cancer-free, due to the severity of the type of breast cancer she had, she must continue to receive a preventative treatment called immunotherapy.
The relatively new form of treatment seeks out any cancer cells that could be hiding away and destroys them.
Leanne says she wants to “give something back” now that she is nearly at the end of her journey.
She added: “I began to offer anyone who is going through cancer and chemo a free make-up appointment.
“I know first-hand how chemo and cancer can try its best to take your identity.
“So I wanted to use my skill to try and help anyone going through what I went through.
“It’s given people a safe space to be, where we can chat and relate to what’s happened to us.
“It’s therapy for a lot of people, it certainly is for me.”
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