Facebook forced to lift ban on breast cancer victim’s ‘sexual and abusive’ mastectomy scar photos

A breast cancer sufferer has won a battle against Facebook which banned her putting up photos of her mastectomy scars.

After undergoing a mastectomy, Sharon Adams decided to raise awareness of breast cancer by posting photographs of her scar on the social networking site.

They were accompanied by a description of the mother of four’s fight against the disease and encouragement from her for other women to go for regular check-ups.

But within a day, the social networking site removed the photos after branding them ‘sexual and abusive’.

The decision caused protests, with nearly 900 people joining an online group calling for the ban to be lifted. Supporters hailed Ms Adams as a ‘brave lady’ and questioned how the photos could be deemed offensive.

Facebook, which has over 120 million members, has now relented, apologised and admitted that it made a mistake.

This afternoon at her home in Whitely, Reading, Ms Adams, 45, said: ‘I put these pictures out on Facebook to put a message out to women – check your breasts regularly and do not ever be ashamed of a mastectomy.

‘We apologise for the mistake and encourage Sharon to upload these photos again if she so chooses”, said a Facebook spokesman.

Ms Adams has put the four photographs – labelled ‘fighting cancer’ – back on her site.