CoppaFeel! breast cancer charity founder Kris Hallenga dies aged 38

She died 15 years after her diagnosis and showed ‘it is possible to live life to the full with cancer’, the charity said
PA Archive
Helen William6 May 2024

Kris Hallenga, the founder of breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel!, has died aged 38 after 15 years of living with the disease.

In 2009 she was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer at the age of 23, after being turned away from her GP for more than a year. By the time she was diagnosed, it was terminal.

A statement on the charity’s website said: “Kris was the biggest promoter of being ‘alive to do those things’.

“She approached life in a wildly creative, fun and fearless way, and showed us that it is possible to live life to the full with cancer.”

She was 38 and died with fulfilment and a heart full of love

Statement on CoppaFeel! website

It added: “For 15 years Kris had been living with secondary breast cancer. She hasn’t lost a battle, she wasn’t in a fight and she certainly wouldn’t want you to see her death as tragic.

“She was simply living. She was 38 and died with fulfilment and a heart full of love.”

Ms Hallenga had said that CoppaFeel! was born because she was never told to check herself and she did not know she could get breast cancer at 23.

It then became the mission of the charity to educate young people about why they should start checking from a younger age so that all breast cancer is diagnosed early.

Her dream was that one day CoppaFeel! would no longer need to exist and late diagnosis of breast cancer might be eradicated in her lifetime.

With this in mind she campaigned for cancer education to be included in the school curriculum and wrote Glittering A Turd, which went on to become a best-selling book.

She won the Women of the Year Outstanding Young Campaigner award and received an honorary doctorate in public administration from Nottingham Trent University.

Those at CoppaFeel! who affectionately described her as “our founder, boob chief, colleague, friend and queen of glittering turds” are “committed to continuing Kris’ legacy, to ensure that everyone has the best chance of living a happy and healthy life”, the statement adds.

Ms Hallenga’s family have requested privacy.

The statement adds: “We would like to thank our community for your love and messages of support and kindly ask that you respect the family’s wishes at this time.

“Please remember the amazing life Kris led and the things she achieved, but above all else honour her memory by checking your chest… it could just save your life.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in