Angelina Jolie My breast cancer was 'taboo' - the more the rich and beautiful talk about it, the better To have someone as seemingly 'invincible' as Jolie, who's played tough-girl film roles Lara Croft and Mrs Smith, makes it all the more worthwhile that she is talking about it. This can happen to anyone. The more people realise this the better; hopefully more girls will take the disease seriously, will check themselves regularly and seek help if they discover any unusual lumps. That's why it's so important for someone as high-profile as Jolie to spread the message it can happen to anyone. Jolie plays 'invincible' movie roles - but breast cancer can happen to anyone There must be risks in having such a big operation so she must have really felt strongly about whether this was the right thing to do for her. I'm not sure her double mastectomy will spur more young girls in the UK to have the same operation - it's a drastic measure - but it will at least get people talking about breast cancer. Jolie has talked about it to raise awareness that breast cancer is something that can happen to anybody. Clearly reconstruction surgery is better these days and advancement in surgery means a proactive operation is a real option. In some ways my case is similar to Jolie's; I too had a proactive operation to remove a lump in my breast, which doctors at the time said was not cancerous. It was only when I went to the hospital to get my stitches taken out that they doctors reanalysed my situation and said I did, in fact, have a cancerous lump. The time it took between me finding a lump and consulting a GP was about three weeks. I had the operation soon after that. Time is of the essence in these things. I still check my breasts today and encourage every woman out there to do the same. Joanna Forest, 36, is a survivor of breast cancer and ambassador of the CoppaFeel charity, working to raise awareness of breast cancer. She regularly speaks to young people, through schools or baby-mother groups, about the disease and the early warning signs.