Courtesy of Leanne Hainsby/Instagram (2)
Peloton Instructor Leanne Hainsby Reveals Breast Cancer Battle After BFF Danielle Hampson’s Death
Beloved Peloton instructor Leanne Hainsby has revealed she’s been secretly battling breast cancer for months and was diagnosed with the disease shortly after her best friend, Danielle Hampson, died in a car accident on her wedding day in June 2022.
Leanne, 35, told fans about her cancer journey in a Friday, January 27, Instagram post. She started off her message, “Two days before my best friend’s funeral, I found a lump in my breast. That is a sentence I NEVER imagined writing.”
Danielle was killed in the early morning hours of June 18, the same day she was scheduled to marry fiancé Tom Mann. Leanne explained, “To be in the early stages of grief after losing Danielle and then faced with something like this has been unimaginably tough.”
The exercise instructor said that after multiple scans and appointments with doctors and after being “terrified” for a few weeks, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2022.
“Where possible, I have tried to show up as ‘normal,’ but my reality has been very different,” she wrote of teaching Peloton cycling classes while undergoing chemo.
Leanne shared that she has completed 12 weeks of chemotherapy and underwent surgery. The fitness fanatic revealed how she managed to juggle her job with her cancer treatment.
“I would teach my Wednesday morning LIVE classes, and then meet my mum and go to the treatment suite for my weekly dose (alongside other drugs as part of my treatment plan),” she explained, adding, “Chemo is no joke. Cold caps are no joke.”
“Treatment will continue for a long time for me, hospital visits are the norm, and I focus on one step at a time,” Leanne continued. She added that she felt “very fortunate” to undergo treatment privately while thanking her “incredible” nurses and doctors, adding, “I wouldn’t be here without them.”
“I’m in fantastic hands, and I’ve got this,” she wrote. “Nobody wants to be sat in a room and told they have cancer, and yet I’ve always felt one of the lucky ones. I am one of the lucky ones. Lucky to be diagnosed early, lucky to be moving fast through treatment, lucky to know I WILL BE OK.”
Leanne told fans that a huge part of her role as a Peloton instructor “is about the members, and despite my diagnosis, that has always mattered to me hugely.” She said that her classes had provided “a focus, and some sparkle in an otherwise incredibly tough time.” Leanne thanked her members “who had no idea the amount of joy they were bringing to me every day,” amid her cancer journey.
The England native revealed that she and her fiancé, fellow Peloton instructor Ben Alldis, were able to undergo one round of IVF before she began chemo in hopes that they can one day start a family. “We weren’t mentally prepared, but we got it done and we’re so grateful,” Leanne admitted.
“I’m nearly 6 months down the line. I’m in fantastic hands, and I’ve got this,” she shared. “Nobody wants to be sat in a room and told they have cancer, and yet I’ve always felt like one of the lucky ones. I am one of the lucky ones. Lucky to be diagnosed early, lucky to be moving fast through treatment, lucky to know I WILL BE OK,” Leanne assured her Instagram followers.
Ben gushed in the comments of Leanne’s post, “I love you @leannehainsby. You have shown me time and time again over this last year why I’m the luckiest guy alive that you said yes to marrying me. Showing resilience, grace and still managing to be there for others while you go through this all. Your shining light is shining brighter than ever.”
