ARLETTE Rowe is living life to the full.

The 51-year-old council worker is pursuing her love of performing and dancing and also enjoying spending time with her close-knit family.

Mrs Rowe believes she has been given a second chance at life by undergoing radical surgery that has given her a future free of uncertainty and worry.

And the inspiration for the operation came from Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie.

In April this year Mrs Rowe underwent a preventative double mastectomy after discovering she was carrying the BRCA1 gene linked to breast and ovarian cancer.

And she has absolutely no regrets.

Mrs Rowe said: “I’ve never looked back and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.”

Her older sister Linda Worsley died from ovarian cancer in 2009 at the age of 58 but it took Mrs Rowe two years to pluck up the courage to be tested.

She said: “I was just too scared to have it.

“When the results came through that I had the faulty BRCA1 gene, I thought I was prepared for it but I went into deep shock.

"I was sitting on the stairs at the time and I couldn’t move for 20 minutes.

“But then Angelina Jolie went public with her decision to have her breasts removed.

“I thought she has a very high profile role in an industry where all eyes are on her and looks are everything – if she can do it, so can I.

“And why would I miss a possible opportunity to save my life?”

Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 and had her ovaries removed earlier this year as a preventative measure.

Mrs Rowe's test results showed the Crawley Borough Council worker had an 80% chance of developing breast cancer.

The faulty gene also increases the risk of ovarian cancer but Mrs Rowe has already had a hysterectomy.

Mrs Rowe, from Washington, near Horsham, is now having gradual reconstruction and now has a lower risk of breast cancer than the average woman.

She admits she was extremely anxious about developing cancer but said after the testing it was a ‘no brainer’ that she would have preventative surgery.

Mrs Rowe said: “I could just have continued as before and had annual scans for early signs of breast cancer, but that was not for me as that felt like turning ‘if I get cancer’ into ‘when I get cancer’.

“I felt guilty when I went for the surgery because I had this opportunity to prevent cancer that others had not.

“But my consultant reassured me I had done the right thing for me - not only protecting myself from all the treatment but also preventing the problem in the first place.”

Mrs Rowe is married to Graham and they have three sons, Jake, 23, Taylor, 20 and Joshua, 15.

The faulty BRCA1 gene can also increase the risk of prostate cancer and can affect future generations so the boys have been genetically tested and are awaiting the results.

Mrs Rowe says surgery may not be the right option for everyone but says it is something she has never questioned.

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month continues, she has advice for women who may in the same position as her.

She said: “Surgery is always going to be a personal decision and it was right for me.

“Angelina was definitely an inspiration. I even tried to get in touch with her to say so.

“But if anyone else is now faced with this decision, as someone who has ‘come out the other side’, I would say, don’t hesitate.

“In my mind, it is far better to prevent cancer than to sit around playing a game of Russian roulette with it.

“It's easy to panic in this situation but remember you have choices and that choice is yours to make. You are still very much in control. Even if you decide to opt for surgery, there are different choices of methods within the field so you can find the one that best suits you.

“If you decide to opt for surgery then you can even eliminate the need to look for it in the first place. It has nowhere to hide. It's like finding the enemy sniper.

“We have been born into a time when we are able to not only predict it but to stop it in its tracks.

“In a funny sort of way, we are the lucky ones.

“It is a tremendous relief to have this weight lifted. I make it no secret that I am particularly anxious about cancer and always have been. Things got worse for me when my sister was diagnosed.

“After she dived my anxiety went into overdrive. At the time I was having annual mammograms and ovarian screening. Given my level of anxiety, every time I had these done, I was terrified waiting for the results.

Just before the surgery my surgeon told me “when you wake up, your risk will be gone. You will have a lower chance than the average woman in the population of developing breast cancer”.

“That has stuck with me. The relief is immense and to be honest, is still sinking in. I no longer need to go through the awful annual anxiety of screening.”

Mrs Rowe is now back dancing, performing and helping to teach Argentine Tango, which is something she is passionate about.

She said: “I used to be a professional dancer and still keep it up at an amateur level but I think if I didn’t have dance in my life I would go mad.

“Argentine tango has been the antidote to my otherwise stressful life. I love my but it’s not an easy one. Dancing, particularly Argentine Tango, is my escape valve."

Mrs Rowe’s family have also been supportive throughout, although her mother found it difficult to deal with because she was so worried about her daughter.

She said: “I used work as a daily distraction from thinking about the impending operation and tango in my personal life.

“Friends and colleagues have been absolutely amazing at keeping me going. My best friend has been a star and husband, an absolute rock.

“He has been like a guardian angel to me and I could not have done this without him.

"My employers were terrific about the whole thing, incredibly understanding and without all of these factors coming together helped to make this a positive experience rather than the terrifying one I thought it would be in the build up to the operation.”

Mrs Rowe was recently part of a team who took part in a 13 mile Cancer Research UK Shine Night Walk in London.

She said: “Thanks to research, the treatments now available are fantastic.

“Finding the faulty gene is very difficult. We were told it was ‘like looking for a spelling mistake in an encyclopaedia’.

“But once it has been identified, it is much easier to spot when relatives are tested because they know exactly where to look.

“And it means you get the results in a matter of weeks rather than months or even years.”

Entry to the Shine Night Walk 2016 is open now, with a £5 discount on the full entry price, at shinewalk.org.