Hackham footballers will don pink socks and armbands for Hawks breast cancer survivor Natalie Keane

Inspired by one of their own, players at Southern Football League club Hackham will wear pink socks and armbands this weekend to raise funds for Breast Cancer Network Australia.

Hackham footballers Jess Harris, Courtnie Noble, Hope Rowe, Charmaine Mulloy, Ebony Woodward, Natalie Keane and Abby Woodward. They will wear pink armbands and socks this Sunday to raise money for Breast Cancer Network Australia after Keane was diagnosed in 2015. Picture: AAP/Keryn Stevens

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October 1, 2015 – it was the date when Hackham footballer Natalie Keane’s world turned upside down.

Keane was just 21 and a doctor rang to tell her she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, one month after she discovered a lump.

She was with family on the way to a camping trip in Purnong, near Mannum, and her then seven-year-old nephew, Blake, was in the back seat of the car “thinking I was dying”.

“I got the phone call from the surgeon and he said it over the loudspeaker,” Keane, now 25, says.

“We still went camping but Blake pulled a piece of my hair out and I was like ‘What are you doing?’ and he said ‘I’m keeping it as memories’.

Breast cancer survivor and Hackham footballer Natalie Keane. Picture: Supplied

“That hit me hard.

“I was told by way too many people that 21 was too young for breast cancer.”

After having surgery to remove the 8.5cm lump in her right breast, undergoing chemotherapy, 34 bouts of radiation, four hospital admissions and countless injections, Keane finished her treatment in July 2016.

Her story of survival has inspired Hackham to raise money for Breast Cancer Network Australia.

The men’s, women’s and under-14 girls’ teams will wear special pink socks during their games this weekend.

Hackham will also host raffles and cake stands at the club this Sunday from 10am before the women’s side confronts Reynella at 1.25pm.

“Doctors told me to start going to the gym because I only have one-and-a-half lung capacity but I couldn’t do that, I’d get bored,” Keane, of Seaford, says.

Breast cancer survivor Natalie Keane pictured while in hospital. Picture: Supplied

“I went to the footy club every Friday night for dinner with my dad and the girls asked me if I wanted to start training with them and then I started playing.

“It’s been great to get out of the house and I love it.”

Doctors now classify her ‘NED’ – no evidence of disease – but she is still on heavy medication and will not be given the all clear until she hits the five-year mark.

All proceeds, including from the sock sales, will go to Breast Cancer Network Australia

– a not-for-profit organisation that supports Australians affected by breast cancer.

“Since I’ve finished treatment, BCNA has been a big help,” the defender says.

“They try to work with young people who are diagnosed and show people that you don’t have to be old to be diagnosed.”