A young breast cancer patient has attracted interest from around the world after she created a blog to talk about her experiences.

Joanna Clarke was 28 when, in 2012, she discovered a lump and was diagnosed shortly afterwards.

With no family history of the disease and the fact she was so young the diagnosis came as a big shock.

However, Mrs Clarke, now 30, was determined to stay positive throughout her treatment, which consisted of chemotherapy, two lots of surgery and radiotherapy.

Two weeks after her final session of radiotherapy earlier this year she got married to Robert, also 30.

When she was first diagnosed Mrs Clarke turned to the internet for information and found there was very little that was directly relevant to her age group.

MORE:

This was inspired to start her blog, which has now had more than 50,000 page views from people in 75 different countries.

Mrs Clarke said: “I was completely stunned when I was diagnosed.

“I wanted to do the blog to help me document what was happening and it was cathartic for me, but I also thought it might help others.

“It seems to have struck a nerve and I have had messages from around the world from people saying how much it has helped and how it has inspired them.”

Mrs Clarke, who is now doing well and intends to keep the blog going, is calling on people to back the fundraising campaign The IN Thing for Cancer Research UK.

The IN Thing asks women to rally their girlfriends together for a fun night in and to donate the money they would have spent on a night out to life-saving research.

Hosts can set a fundraising target and collect donations before or on the night.

The charity is urging people to host the events in November before the Christmas party season starts.

To join The IN Thing and sign up for a party pack visit theinthing.org.uk

To read more about Mrs Clarke's story, visit thelittlestjojo.blogspot.co.uk/.