A WINSFORD woman who fought back and ‘took control’ over her breast cancer has now been shortlisted for a prestigious ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ award.

Sarah Pickles, 32, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 and took action immediately.

She said: “After the shock diagnosis, I quickly realised that I had two options – I let the cancer control me, or I control the cancer.”

After being given the all-clear last year, Sarah decided to put her experiences together into a book to help other women who are going through the same struggles.

The book, The Shock Factor - Sarah’s Story, will be published in October, and Sarah has been nominated for an Enterprise Vision Awards (EVAs) in the category of Inspirational Woman of the Year.

Sarah added: “It was absolutely brilliant to find out I’ve been shortlisted. Earlier on in the year I got shortlisted for Cheshire Woman of the Year and I didn’t win that but just to be shortlisted was incredible.

“It just makes everything I’m doing worthwhile and it’s just so rewarding. I don’t feel like I need to be recognised for it but to know that I am, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

Each finalist will now face a panel of judges before the winners will be announced on Friday, September 23, at an awards ceremony held at Blackpool Winter Gardens.

Coral Horn, founder of the Pink Link Ladies networking group and organiser of the EVAs, said: “The hard work starts now for all these ladies but for me, it’s the best bit. Seeing the businesses come in and pitch to the judges is great, a lot of effort is put in and all the judges have some very tough decisions to make.

“We’ve a wide range of entrants from across the north west so it really shows how far the EVAs has come since it first started in 2011. The awards really do shine a light on those that have a passion and the determination to make a real difference to their business.”

The EVAs judging process is a mix of public nomination with a stringent round of judging and an interview with a panel of highly regarded business professionals. Public votes can be cast at enterprisevisionawards.co.uk.