Roz Purcell has opened up about how her sister Rachel’s cancer diagnosis changed her and their family’s lives.
The Irish model and her older sister are well known faces on the Dublin social scene, and Roz has recently moved in with music promoter boyfriend Zach Desmond in Sandycove.
Rachel, who works alongside the online influencer was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia back in 2015, and has been living with it ever since.
Now, Roz has revealed that her sister’s illness took it’s toll on her and her family, and just how they dealt with it.
“I guess after my sister got CML, I realised life is so short, and you only get one run at it, so I definitely changed a lot,” The Tipperary woman told independent.ie.
“My philosophy shifted towards being present, enjoying the small things, and not having so much fear about where I was going next.
“It definitely brought us all closer together,”
“The first week felt surreal. We were all just a bit shell-shocked but gradually, as a lot of Irish families do, we tried to make the most out of a bad situation and find humour in the smallest of things.
“I think Rachel was probably the most collected, and managed it really well. She was the one keeping us all calm. It’s the worst thing hearing someone you love is sick. I probably dealt with it the worst. Rachel can tell you a few stories of how emotional I kept getting.”
The stunning sisters spoke out about the unexpected news back in 2016, saying that its was ‘so difficult to understand.’
“It was so hard because we just didn’t know anything at that point, there were no test results,” Rachel recalls. “We didn’t know what stage it was at, what it was or anything.”
“It was so difficult for us all to understand, because she looked and seemed absolutely fine,” says Roz. “I couldn’t sleep thinking about it, I remember getting up at 5am and going for a run. I was just about to launch my book, but I couldn’t even think about it, all I could think about was Rachel’s news.”
We’re wishing Rachel all the best!
