Breast cancer at 30: a young fighter’s health journey

SINGAPORE – A year ago, Shermin Shu had everything to look forward to.

At 30, she was engaged to comedian Jacky Ng in June 2025 and won her first muay thai fight locally as an amateur in August.

She brushed aside Ng’s concerns when he noticed a lump in her right breast that month. Probably hormones or a blood clot from her almost-daily training, she thought.

After all, the marketing executive was making her professional debut in Phuket in November, where she would be the first woman from her gym, Tiger Muay Thai (Singapore), to take part.

She lost that fight to a more experienced competitor from the Netherlands, but continued intense training in anticipation of another fight in Singapore.

It was only when she closely examined her body in the mirror in December 2025 that she saw a hard cyst near her nipple. She realised she had lost some weight and the density of her breast “just wasn’t right”.

A breast and endocrine surgeon at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital confirmed her worst fears – she had Stage 2B breast cancer. There is no history of the disease in her family.

“I was young and active. As women, we’re familiar with breast cancer, but we are taught that it happens at a later stage of life,” she says.

Shu broke down while calling her fiance, who was performing in Australia at the time.

“I apologised to Jacky because we just got engaged. There were many hopes and dreams for what we wanted to achieve and the kids we wanted to have. He was very comforting and told me we will go through this challenge together,” she says.

Since January, when her diagnosis was confirmed, she has gone through a whirlwind of cancer-related treatments, starting in March with a nipple-sparing mastectomy with breast reconstruction using a flap of tissue removed from the lower abdomen.

She underwent in-vitro fertilisation procedures to retrieve and freeze eight eggs in May and June – even giving herself IVF injections in the toilet during breaks in the midst of a warehouse sale held by her employer, a wine importer – followed by 16 sessions of weekly chemotherapy from mid-June. Radiation therapy is scheduled for later in 2026.

Her bosses were supportive and allowed her to work mostly remotely, but she recently quit to run her own freelance projects.

As a creative, she says she was always hustling for the next goal.

“Being 31 this year, the biggest change I’ve made is to put myself first and listen to my body,” she says.

“I had always pushed my health and happiness aside in order to bring happiness to other people in the different ways I deliver creativity. Making this decision has made me a lot happier. I feel lighter.”

Muay thai has been a grounding force for her, even though her routine is a fraction of what she was doing 12 months ago.

Her medical team encouraged her to keep fit, which also helps in unexpected ways, such as having veins visible enough for chemotherapy needles, she says.

Shu first picked up the sport about a decade ago to lose weight. In the process, she learnt to love the discipline and resilience muay thai taught her, as well as the community.

Being active and going through fight camps helped her cope with chemotherapy, since she was used to pushing through fatigue from training.

“When the chemo fatigue hit, it wasn’t a completely unfamiliar feeling. I feel like that helped me cope with it better and recover a little faster each time,” she says.

Instead of training six days a week, sometimes twice a day, in the past, she now does at least one 90-minute training session a week.

She also gets a mini workout twice a week coaching kickboxing at KIX Combat Fitness since August.

She usually rests at home on Sundays, when the post-chemo fatigue typically worsens.

“Previously, I would beat myself up if I didn’t train for the day. But now, it’s about learning how to space things out. It’s about how I show up to the gym and make sure that I get a good workout.”

Shu hopes to eventually return to the ring for a few fights before she tries for a baby. Her wedding, originally scheduled for 2027, has been pushed back by a year so that her hair can grow out.

One of the hardest challenges in her journey so far has been dealing with the invisible aspects of being a breast cancer patient because “I don’t look sick”.

She sometimes gets flippant questions on social media, like why she shaved her hair, and responds in a lighthearted manner, joking that it saves on shampoo. At other times, people wonder why she rejects social engagements.

“I have to explain that I’m going through chemotherapy and feeling lethargic. I think it’s hard for people to comprehend that,” she says.

“I could have done muay thai or coaching yesterday, but today could be the day when the treatment starts showing its signs and I need rest. People forget that I need grace sometimes. I’m still a cancer patient.”

She says her diagnosis has brought her closer to her mother, aged 58, and younger brother, aged 29, who works in sales for a crematorium. They show their love in different ways, such as making sure she has enough eggs and toilet paper, or helping her move furniture. Her father died two years ago.

Shu has been sharing her breast cancer journey on social media, where she has a combined follower count of 19,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram under the handle @caramelprata.

She chose to post positive content after seeing some negative videos on TikTok while searching for what to expect during treatment and the side effects.

“One wrong engagement and suddenly the algorithm was feeding me more of the same. It made me spiral, especially when I was already scared and vulnerable,” she says. “I want to make sure that whoever chances upon my content finds it positive, so that it gives them light through the tunnel and shows them that we have amazing healthcare.”

She also found kindred spirits when she joined the non-profit Breast Cancer Foundation, which has a support group for younger breast cancer patients.

Looking back on the past year, she recalls how she told herself her health could wait because she was busy. But if she had sought treatment a few months earlier, her cancer may not have progressed as far, she says.

“That’s the biggest takeaway – making sure my health is taken care of. In terms of work life and training, I don’t always have to be the strongest fighter in the gym. Just showing up, having the discipline and resilience to still do the sport, it’s a pat on the back already.”