Logan Zumba coach, Michelle Shea, battles double breast cancer diagnosis

A Logan Zumba coach, whose ‘horrifically unlucky’ double breast cancer diagnosis has left doctors with no choice but to remove both breasts, is being cheered on by the fitness community she has built.

Logan mother Michelle Shea battles rare breast cancer diagnosis. Picture: Michelle and daughter Harlee.

A beloved Logan Zumba coach has been labelled by doctors as “horrifically unlucky” after two different cancers were found in her breasts.

Shailer Park resident Michelle ‘Chelle’ Shea, 42, noticed a changing lump on her left breast in October 2023, prompting a swift doctor’s appointment.

Her long time best friend, Ali Voigt, said after a scan and biopsy specialists discovered her “horrifically unlucky” bilateral breast cancer diagnosis, where each breast had developed a different type of cancer.

“Her right breast has a stage three ductal cancer and her left is a stage two lobular carcinoma,” Mrs Voigt said.

“Chelle is extremely unlucky and her cancer is so rare, so rare to have two different types but also at the same time.

Michelle Shea and her Park Ridge Zumba and Konga squad.

“The lump she could feel is the less dangerous of the two cancers, the cancer in her right breast is growing rapidly and had she not felt the lump, it could have been too late by the time it was detected.

“She has remained so positive and strong for her 6-year-old little girl Harlee, she is a single mother,” she said.

Ms Shea is best known for supporting community charities through her Konga and Zumba dance classes and in 2023 raised funds for the Logan Children’s Hospital.

“Chelle is the most enthusiastic, adventurous and giving person I know, this time she needs support like she has given so many times herself,” Mrs Voigt said.

“With family troubles added on, 2023 was a very hard year for her,” she said.

Ms Shea will undergo a double mastectomy in May 2024 to ensure her cancer won’t return, shortly after she will have completed 19 weeks of chemotherapy.

Best friend Ali Voigt and Michelle Shea.

Mrs Voigt is fundraising towards chopping 40cm of her own hair in support of her best friend, in March 2024.

“I was thinking if there was something I could possibly do to share my love and support, and this was it,” Mrs Voigt said.

“Born Pretty Hair in Heritage Park have kindly agreed to get involved to cut and it will be donated to a charity who make wigs for cancer patients.

“Hair grows back and Chelle is the most humble, most helpful person in everyone’s life who knows her … any support is greatly appreciated,” she said.

If you can donate to the fundraiser, please click here.