By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

Breast cancer survivor Karen Allen is practising a catwalk strut up and down the kitchen of her Dundee home.

She will be a catwalk model at a charity fashion show later this year, aimed at showing there is life after breast cancer and that survivors can look great.

Just 18 months after her mother Margaret was diagnosed with breast cancer, Karen was given the bombshell news in 2005 that she, too, had fallen victim to the disease that took the life of her grandmother.

Just 44 at the time of diagnosis, Karen mistakenly thought she was “too young” to have breast cancer and waited several months before seeking medical help.

Both Karen and her mother have come through aggressive treatment, but it was a hard battle.

Karen was off work for nine months, putting her trust in specialist staff at Ninewells Hospital and getting support at the nearby Maggie’s Centre.

“I always expected to get through it,” said Karen. “I always expected to get done what had to be done and then I would be well again.”

The experience of being so seriously ill has given her a new outlook on life. She no longer puts off until tomorrow things she can do today.

Karen rises very early every week day and heads for the swimming pool, completing 25 lengths before heading off to her job as an incapacity benefits adviser at the Job Centre in Gellatly Street.

She swam all the way through chemotherapy treatment that made her hair fall out, wearing a swimming cap in the pool to disguise her baldness. Karen said the exercise released her “happy hormones,” helping to keep her spirits up.

“It releases endorphins and gives me a positive feeling.”

Karen has also joined the Tayside Trekkers and goes hill walking with her club mates on alternate Sundays. Last year she started bagging Munros and has since scaled several peaks over 3000 feet.

“I have made a lot of changes for the better in my life since breast cancer,” said Karen. “It made me reassess things. What I value now is time. I want to make the most of my time now. Rather than put off things to tomorrow, I tend to do more things now, or as soon as possible.”

Throughout her battle with breast cancer, Karen was supported by the Breast Cancer Care charity. When she heard they were looking for models for a charity fashion show in a major Glasgow hotel, she agreed to take part. Never having participated in a catwalk parade before, Karen is now fitting in some impromptu rehearsals ahead of the September show.

“I would confess to walking up and down in the kitchen, but not in stilettos, just in my slippers.”