JACQUI Booth waited 19 years for her boyfriend, Andrew, to propose.

And when he went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him, she was the happiest girl in the world.

She planned her dream wedding on the top of the Rockefeller Center in New York down to the last detail, but then tragedy stuck. Just three weeks before her big day, Jacqui found a lump in her right breast and was devastated when she was told it was cancerous.

Surgeons at the Calderdale Royal Hospital moved quickly to remove the lump after Jacqui told them she was determined nothing was going to spoil her wedding day.

The 42-year-old had no idea however when Andrew slipped the ring on her finger if her cancer had spread or not, or if she would ever make Christmas or her first anniversary. It wasn't until after her huge wedding party back home that she got the results she had been praying for.

Doctors told her they had caught the cancer in time but she would need an extensive course of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the following seven months.

Inspired by her strength of character and the fact that she never once moaned about her lot, Jacqui's close friends decided they wanted to do something to show their respect and admiration for both her and the nurses that cared for her.

So they have bared all for a cheeky 2010 calendar they hope will raise over £5,000, to be shared between the local cancer support centre and a national breast cancer charity.

Thirteen local women, including Jacqui are featured in the calendar, called Any Woman shot by Chris Lord at his photographic studio in Square Road, Halifax. They are Jane Gibson, 47, Jeanette Small, 42, Tina Hardcastle 42, Mandy Hardy, 47, Vicky Tomlinson, 29, Sue Hunter 43, Angie Rice, 53, Linda Stephenson, 51, Jayne Keogh, 45, Lauren Keogh 22, Jacqueline Smith, 52 and Jayne Watterson, 50, who are all from the Halifax area.

"We turned ourselves into calendar girls because we want to make a difference. Jacqui was our inspiration. She is remarkable at the best of times always putting others before herself. She amazed us at how she managed to organise her hen party and wedding in such a calm no-fuss way while waiting for her results. Her strength is truly beautiful," says Angie Rice.

Jacqui, who works for the Anchor Trust a housing association, based in Bradford, says she couldn't have got through the last six months of turmoil without Andrew, her family and friends.

"I'm lucky to have such loyal and supportive friends. Doing the calendar was great fun but it carries a serous message that breast cancer can be beaten and life does go on."

The experience didn't spoil her wedding day she claims. "I had a few thoughts such as 'will I ever come back to the spot where I got married again?, but I quickly dismissed them. It was the best day of my life and well worth waiting all that time for."

The women raised more than £700 with a series of events, before embarking on the calendar and got sponsorship from several local companies, including Asda supermarket.

The calendar, which costs £7.50, will shortly be on sale at Harveys, Sainsbury's, the Victoria Theatre, and Electric Bowl in Halifax, several pubs, clubs, shops and hairdressers in King Cross and Highroad Well and Trinkette, Sowerby Bridge.

Jacqui, who finishes her chemotherapy treatment this month and starts on radiotherapy next year, says she can't wait for Christmas, and has already got the best present imaginable – her life.