‘She had a dream of getting better and raising awareness

The brother of an estate agent who died from an aggressive form of breast cancer at 29 is hoping to carry on her legacy of helping people detect the disease early. Leonie Botten from Wainscott was given just a year to live after earlier being told she had nothing to worry about when referred to Medway Maritime Hospital with a lump in her chest. After being turned away in May 2022, the growth became larger and by January 2023, she was told she had stage-4 triple-negative breast cancer.

KentOnline spoke with Leonie at the time, as she shared her heartbreaking experience in a bid to raise awareness and help raise funds to get treatment in America. Her tragic story touched many people and by speaking out, she helped others detect their own breast cancers early. Her brother Jamie, from Lordswood, said: “It went pretty viral - she had tons of people getting in touch asking ‘What should I look out for? What do I need to be doing? How do I check?’ “There were two girls that were fairly local who saw Leonie’s story and saw her keep telling people to check themselves so they did, and both of them found lumps and went to the hospital.

“What we saw on this whole journey was just horrific so knowing that there are potentially other families that won’t have to go through that now because of Leonie putting it out there, and giving the advice - it kind of softens the blow a bit.” Sadly, following an 18-month battle with her health, Leonie died on June 30, 2024, surrounded by her family and friends. Paying tribute to his little sister, Jamie said although she was only 5ft 2ins, she was the biggest personality and character who lit up the room with her sense of humour.

He said: “I’m not usually the best with a memory, but I remember I must have been six and I was sitting eating my cocoa pops and mum and dad came through the door with this little baby. “I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I just remember adoring her from the minute she came. “She was tiny for her age but larger than life.

She was loud, proud, you know, just a real pocket rocket.” As the dad-of-three navigates his grief, he is hoping to continue Leonie’s legacy by taking part in a series of fitness challenges to raise as much money as possible for the charity Against Breast Cancer. The focus of the not-for-profit organisation’s research is preventing secondary spread - the main cause of breast cancer deaths.

Jamie said: “Leonie had a dream of getting better. “There was a day before she went into the hospital where I was trying to get her into the gym and keep her exercising for both her body and her mind and she said ‘Right, I’m going to get better and I’m going to run a half marathon’. “As I watched her decline, I was like, she’s probably not going to be able to do this so I just have to do it for her now.

” Since September 2024, the 34-year-old has completed 11 running events and has a further 10 booked, including the London, Paris and Barcelona marathons. To donate to his JustGiving page click here. Jamie said people had shared touching words to describe Leonie, some of which he used in his eulogy to her, which summed her up perfectly.

He said people had described her as “adventurous, loving, diva, funny, kind, courageous, inspirational, heart-warming, charismatic, irreplaceable, vivacious, witty, caring, little, bubbly, strong, brave, fearless, loving, loyal, honest (brutally), joyful, magnetic, feisty, beautiful”. He added: “Leonie was the youngest of our family, the smallest but largest piece of the family jigsaw puzzle and our hearts ache daily with her loss.” The goal is to hit £10,000 by the end of this year.

Jamie added: “I’ve got three young daughters and I want to try and make sure that they remember their auntie for how she was. “I’ve got quite an aggressive form of arthritis so it’s quite degrading on my body but I know I can push through because there’s a wider purpose here and I can turn my grief and pain into positivity for others.”.