Elizabeth Hurley shares heartfelt words about losing her grandmother to cancer

Elizabeth Hurley has shared some heartfelt words about losing her grandmother to breast cancer in a bid to raise more than £100,000 to towards the fight against disease during Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The actress, 56, lost her grandparent to the illness in 1992 and is now an ambassador for the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.

Taking to Instagram on Friday, Liz wrote: ‘October 1st marks the start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

Speaking out: Elizabeth Hurley, 56, has shared some heartfelt words about losing her grandmother to breast cancer in a bid to raise funds to fight the disease

Real life: The actress lost her grandparent to the illness in 1992 and is now an ambassador for the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

‘When my grandmother lost her life to breast cancer in the early 90’s, nobody spoke openly about this disease. Times have changed, but people are still dying. 

‘Today, our call to help end breast cancer for all is more urgent than ever as breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide

‘Whether you’re a patient, family or friend, thriver, doctor, or advocate, I hope you’ll join me in helping fund lifesaving breast cancer research by grabbing your favorite pink lipstick, drawing a ribbon, sharing your story, and tagging 5 people in your post to do the same.’ 

Regret: Elizabeth previously became tearful as she revealed her ‘enormous sadness’ over her grandmother’s (pictured) battle, admitting her family ‘weren’t there for her in a way they should have been’

Raising awareness: She told her followers: ‘When my grandmother lost her life to breast cancer in the early 90’s, nobody spoke openly about this disease… People are still dying’

Elizabeth then went on to nominate some of her famous friends to pass the message on, writing: ‘I’m nominating @davidfurnish @trinnywoodall @dwalliams @noholdenback @damienhurley1 to join our conversation.’

The star went on to explain that Estee Lauder companies will donate up to $150,000 (£111,000) to the cause, writing: ‘For every public, in-feed Instagram or Facebook post during the month of October featuring both #TimeToEndBreastCancer and #ELCdonates together, @esteelaudercompanies will donate $25 to @bcrfcure up to $150,000.’

Elizabeth previously revealed how her grandmother kept her breast cancer diagnosis secret from the rest of the family, saying her relative showed her scars from a double mastectomy once she finally told her family about her diagnosis, but would often change the subject.

Helping out: Lipz has since played a significant role in the fight against cancer for almost three decades (pictured Estee Lauder’s Breast Cancer Campaign 2019)

During an appearance on This Morning, she said: ‘When I started working for the breast cancer campaign, my grandmother had just died.

‘When I was told it was started because women were dying, it really rang home for me, because she didn’t talk about it. There was no awareness, no pink ribbon campaign.’ 

At the time, the media personality urged: ‘People aren’t checking their own breasts. If you’re too young to have a mammogram, which is under 50 or in some countries under 40, you have to check your breasts. We’re raising awareness but we’re raising funds too.

One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their life. However, those who have already had the disease have double the risk of developing a new cancer in another area of the same breast, or in the other breast.

Genetics are thought to be the reason – but in the majority of cases, the exact genes responsible have not yet been discovered. 

Secret: Elizabeth explained how her grandmother kept her cancer diagnosis secret from the rest of them family and would later change the subject when it was known