In 1988 Bernadette Bohan won a battle against cancer. But when she became pregnant seven years later, a doctor told her that it was likely to trigger a return of the disease. She didn't hesitate and gave birth to the child she had longed for.

However, her fight wasn't over. Five years later the cancer attacked her body again.

Bernadette made another choice. In desperation, she decided that her best chance of survival was not simply to be a passive patient and follow blindly her doctor's advice, but to create her own alternative prescription.

When news of Bernadette's triumph over cancer brought others flocking to her door seeking help, this ordinary Irish wife and mother found her life transformed. And she realised that her illness was a gift after all.