Breast cancer be damned! The inspiring story of the beauty queen who had her breasts rebuilt to save her life

The vivid scars across her breasts are the result of a double mastectomy and full reconstruction, which she chose to undergo to beat the cancer that has taken three members of her family.

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Sarah-Jane, 34, a life coach from Swindon, lost her mother, aunt and grandmother to breast cancer, and knew her chances of contracting the disease were high.

And as mum to Jasmine, eight, and twins Poppy-Fe and George, three, she couldn't bear the thought of causing even more grief to a family that had already suffered so much.

"I barely hesitated," she says. "I was happy to get rid of my breasts - they could have killed me. It felt as if I was living with the enemy.

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"So many of my family have suffered with the disease and I was resigned to the fact I would get it, too. Now I feel I have my life back."

Sarah-Jane was motivated to have the operation after seeing her mother, Patsy Rossiter, fight cancer for 20 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at 41, when Sarah-Jane was only eight. Patsy died in 2003, when she was only 62.

Sarah-Jane's aunt, Marianne Bristow, also died of breast cancer aged 52 in 1996, and her grandmother, Betty Timmins, died of breast and bone cancer. She was in her 80s.

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Desperate not to put her children through the same ordeal, Sarah-Jane has always stuck to a strict diet - cutting out meat, alcohol and dairy products - which is recommended for avoiding breast cancer.

But aware of her family history, she started to look into genetic testing. Three years ago, she had a test at a clinic in Swindon and was told she had an 85 to 90 per cent chance of contracting the disease.

"Of course I was upset, but I knew there was only one thing to do," she says. Scroll down for more...

"I saw my mum go through so much and there was such a high chance I would get the disease, too, I was determined to go ahead with the operation, no matter how painful."

Doctors removed all the breast tissue in a three-hour operation. Previously a 32A, she had to leave her chest to heal for six months before the doctors could insert the replacement silicon pads - 32E.

"They had to make them that big to stretch the skin and stop it puckering," she says.

But Sarah-Jane refused to have her nipples stitched back on: "The doctors did offer me that, but any of the original tissue can give you cancer. The whole point of having the surgery is to prevent it.

"I have fake nipples, but I don't wear them very often. I keep them in my handbag."

Now Sarah-Jane does speaking tours for other women facing breast cancer and is writing a book about her decision, which was fully supported by her family.

Revealing her new breasts for the first time today, she says: "I don't want to frighten people into thinking there are no other options. This was my decision and my personal choice.

"It was a painful operation, and it's not for everyone. But unlike my mum I had the chance to beat this disease and I grabbed it with both hands.

"After years of being depressed and terrified of dying, the risk of me getting cancer could be as little as 1 per cent - the same as for other people. I'm not brave, I just wanted to live."