Grays author helps parents diagnosed with cancer

30 October 2018, 07:54 | Updated: 30 October 2018, 08:13

A book written by a woman from Grays - that helps parents diagnosed with cancer to tell their children - has become a best-seller.

Donia Youssef received news in April 2017 that she had breast cancer, after she had discovered a lump in her breast. 

What followed was trauma and stress, but also a real concern about how she could tell her two young girls, then age two and five, the heart-breaking news. 

While Donia confronted the treatments, she also sought counsel on how to talk about the bad news to her children, and found her inspiration to write a children's book that helps parents ease through the conversation that must be had. 

'The Monster in Mummy: De-Monstify Cancer For Children' has since become an Amazon best-seller. 

"I've had people reach out all over the world," Donia told Heart. 

"And some of them have said 'Oh, I really wish I had this book at the time of my diagnosis because it would have really helped me'."