Linda Whalley, from Blackpool, had to have a mastectomy, but it was her Christian faith that helped her throughout her ordeal.

Linda 61, said: “They found two cancerous lumps in my breast – both primary. I was riddled with it.

“They said the only option was surgery and then I might have to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well.

“I asked it if had gone too far – I didn’t want to go through surgery if I was going to die anyway. I wasn’t actually worried about dying, because I knew where I was going. The specialist said we would have to wait and see.”

After being told about playing a waiting game, Linda, who was also told she may develop bone cancer, decided to turn to her faith and prayed.

“This wonderful peace came over me and I was as calm as anything,” she said.

“It didn’t matter whether I lived or died because I knew I would be OK going in God’s strength.

“After the operation, as I was being moved into the recovery room, I suddenly felt this hot burning sensation on my chest.

“I was chatting away to a nurse putting things away and when I went back to my room, I felt fine. I didn’t need any painkillers.” Linda had been put on a drip and thought that this was responsible for the lack of pain.

“I said to one of the nurses that whatever was in the drip, it was working, but she said that it was only saline – she didn’t even know why I was on it, because I’d been taking fluid since I got back from theatre,” said Linda.

“The surgeon was amazed as well, especially when a biopsy result showed that there was no cancer anywhere else. When I told him about my faith, he said to me that there were more things that go on between heaven and earth than we know. I just kept saying thank you to Jesus.”

A year later, Linda had another trauma to face - the threat of bone cancer.

She said: “I damaged my leg and when I was x-rayed, something showed up on my spine. I said to God, ‘You’re not going to cure me of cancer one year and give it me back another, so I’m claiming your healing in the name of Jesus, and by your stripes we are healed.’”

One night, two days before her bone scan, Linda felt the same sensation she had felt after her operation.

“I was asleep when I suddenly woke to a feeling this burning, red hot feeling all over,” she said. “Then I remembered I’d had this feeling before – in the recovery room after my surgery.

“Two days later, the bone scan came back perfectly clear. The shadow on my spine had gone.”

Now signed off from the doctors and free from tablets, she is continually thankful for what God has done.

She said: “God’s so fantastic. I’m a walking miracle! I could go on for hours about all the things God has done for me!”