Sisters Kimberley Marsh and Nichola Jawadi have always been close.

But the siblings’ bond was strengthed when they were both diagnosed with cancer.

Nichola, an intensive care nurse, discovered she had breast cancer last December. She was 29 at the time. “I just found a little lump,” she recalls.

Nichola says although she didn’t know what to expect, she couldn’t believe she had breast cancer. “I was mortified, but I am a positive person,” she says.

Initially, she had a lumpectomy, but decided that a mastectomy, although more radical, was the safest option.

Nichola wore a cold cap as she underwent four months of chemotherapy to prevent her hair falling out. But in a cruel twist of fate, while she was undergoing her gruelling treatment, her 21-year-old sister, Kimberley, discovered she had skin cancer.

“About three years ago, I found a red spot next to my eye. It was a little spot and I didn’t think anything of it,” explains Kimberley.

Over time she noticed the spot became inflamed, but she still thought nothing of it. It wasn’t until she went to see the doctor about another matter that concern for the spot was raised.

“I asked if they could look and see what it was because it had bled a little bit. The doctor seemed concerned and referred me to the dermotologist,” explains Kimberley. “You see things on the internet and it looks a lot worse so when it turned out to be something I was really shocked.”

A biopsy of the spot revealed Kimberley had basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer.

Being fair-skinned, Kimberley says she has always been conscious of applying sun cream.

During the surgical operation to remove the spot in June, a skin graft was taken from the back of Kimberley’s ear to cover the area where the spot had been removed along with the cancer cells.

She now has a follow-up appointment with a consultant and photographs are being taken of her moles to produce a mole map so changes can be identified.

Nichola has since had a breast reconstruction and the girls are now focusing their energies on fundraising.

Inspired by her sister’s battle with breast cancer, Kimberley organised a 25-mile charity trek up Yorkshire’s Three Peaks.

“It made me think I really wanted to do something for Cancer Research so more people in future wouldn’t have to go through what my sister is going through,” says Kimberley.

The recently-qualified nurse says she also considered the people she’d come into contact with through her work who had lost their lives to cancer.

“It spurred me on to do something to help raise funds towards research that goes into it,” says Kimberley.

Adds Nichola: “It touches everyone’s lives either going through it yourself or seeing someone.”

Tackling the Three Peaks was a challenge Kimberley was keen to do, but she also wanted to share the experience. “I thought what better thing to do and for such a good cause, but I didn’t want to do it by myself. I thought I’d put it to family and friends,” she says.

Kimberley was joined by more than 30 supporters. Nichola didn’t participate in the trek, but she was on hand to provide much-needed refreshments at the pit stops.

She says she is proud of her sister forembarking on the challenge which has so far raised £8,000 for Cancer Research UK.

The siblings, from Cleckheaton, thanked their family, friends and supporters for helping to make the trek possible.

They are now hoping to organise other fundraisers such as a fashion show and charity auction.

“We both hope it not only raises awareness, but also adds to the fund of this worthwhile charity because more money that gets put into Cancer Research UK the more happy endings there will be,” says Kimberley.

The sisters have set up a Just Giving web page in the hope they will boost their funds further. For more information, visit justgiving.com/kim-and-co-yorkshirethreepeaks.