FOR a woman about to face a double mastectomy, Sarah-Jane Howe is remarkably cheerful.

And it's even more surprising when you discover the former beauty queen is - at present - perfectly healthy.

But it's that "at present" which is the giveaway.

"My breasts are something that could kill me, so I'm happy to get rid of them," said the mum-of-three.

"It's been like living with the enemy."

Both her mother and her aunt died of breast cancer and without her drastic action there would be an 85 to 90 per cent chance that she would develop the disease too.

"I have been living resigned to the fact that I would get it too for a long time," said Sarah-Jane, 33, of Ashton Keynes.

"On the day my doctor said I could have the double mastectomy, honest to God, I skipped out of that surgery.

"It felt like someone had handed me a box and said here's your life back."

While she knows her action is extreme, it will cut her chances of getting breast cancer to 10 per cent or, as she prefers, there's a 90 per cent chance that she won't.

Her positive, optimistic attitude is striking.

"All my friends have seen the change in me since I was told I could have the operation. I'm so much happier," said Sarah-Jane, who was the youngest ever Miss Thamesdown when she won the title in 1990 aged 17, and was later Miss Swindon in 1995.

While she changed her diet years ago to cut out dairy products and meat and adopted a healthy lifestyle, there was no guarantee that would be enough to ward off the disease.

Her much-loved mum Patsy Rossiter, a former model and later lecturer in beauty therapy at Swindon College, developed breast cancer aged 41.

"The first time I was really aware something was wrong was when I was nine and she was taken into hospital on Boxing Day," said Sarah-Jane, a former landlady of the Cross Keys pub (now PickleJohn's) in Old Town, Swindon.

While her mum was in hospital, Sarah-Jane and her brother were cared for by her aunt Marianne Bristow.

Marianne, the elder sister, a teacher at Covingham Park School, Swindon, later developed the cancer herself.

Both sisters lost their battles against the disease when they were aged 62.

They both had very different lifestyles, which was one of the factors which led to Sarah-Jane's decision.

"My mother drank and smoked and was a workaholic, while my aunt had a more relaxed personality, ate healthily, went to the gym and didn't drink or smoke. They were two extremes and they both got it.

"You can't predict the future but if I didn't take this opportunity and then got it in the future, I'd kick myself.

"I saw my mum go through a hell of a lot of suffering and I couldn't stand to put my children through that pain," said Sarah-Jane, who has Jasmine-Jade, seven, and twins Poppy-Fe and George, two.

Sarah-Jane is booked to have the operation done at Great Western Hospital at the beginning of November. It will take about three hours and she will be in hospital for three to five days afterwards.

She plans to have immediate reconstructive surgery and jokes that after breast-feeding three children her 34A breasts may look even better afterwards.

Her aim is to be fit again for her daughter Jasmine-Jade's eighth birthday on November 25. Then in December she is flying to Palm Springs for a life-coaching seminar with positive thinking guru Tony Robbins, who she credits with helping her change her attitude to life completely.

Her decision to undertake the double mastectomy has been supported by her partner, builder Gary Howard. As for her friends: "They all understand and feel as relieved as me," said Sarah-Jane.

She first thought about the double mastectomy when she spoke to a doctor in Switzerland where she was living with her husband, ice hockey player Richie Howe (the couple split up last year).

After a geneticist charted her medical history, "they use different colours and symbols for different cancers and when they did my family tree my mother's side was like a rainbow all the way down" it showed her high chances of developing the disease, so she felt it was the best option.

"I know a lot of women wouldn't go to this extreme and I don't want to frighten people into thinking there are no other options but it's right for me," she said.

"I've done the big beauty queen thing but I'd rather be flat than lose my life."

For the future her hopes include opening a restaurant and - with busy mums in mind - a takeaway serving the healthy kind of food which wards off illness. She also wants to run healthy food awareness and life-coaching seminars.