Mermaid magic raising breast cancer awareness

Clontarf’s Marissa Taylor will feature in a special calendar that aims to empower women having surgery for breast cancer.

She’s combined two of her passions – mermaids and raising awareness about the importance of breast checks and screening – to be part of the calendar.

Last year Marissa joined 11 other women who’d had breast cancer on Great Keppel Island to shoot the Coastal Mermaids NPOAS (Not Putting on a Shirt) 2025 calendar and Capricorn Studios documentary, which launches on International Flat Day on October 7.

The day was created to celebrate going flat and to promote breast reconstruction awareness, flat closure - breastless chest wall reconstruction after mastectomy – as a valid choice, and to bring together the flat community in sisterhood and solidarity.

One in seven Australian women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40 percent of those women will need a mastectomy. Marissa opted for a double radical mastectomy.

Empowering choice

She says the Coastal Mermaids calendar aims to show women – and the wider community – that it’s perfectly fine not to choose breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.

“Some doctors don’t even offer you the opportunity to go flat,” Marissa explains.

“My doctor was brilliant – he was like ‘you do what you want to do’.

“It’s OK to be flat – we’re still beautiful.

“I don’t care what people think. For me, it’s about making memories.”

Raising awareness

Coastal Mermaids founder Fifi Fogg created the images for the 2025 calendar, with each mermaid wearing a special tail to celebrate her uniqueness.

“Great Keppel Island became the backdrop of strength, beauty and resilience as 12 women, touched by breast cancer, were transformed into mystical mermaids,” Fifi says.

“This unique photoshoot raises awareness about choosing to live flat after mastectomy.

“Over 80,000 women in Australia have undergone a mastectomy and according to a study by the European Journal of Surgical Oncology, half of Australian women offered a mastectomy chose to remain flat.”

Fulfilling a dream

Marissa says joining the calendar crew was extra special because she’s always wanted to be a mermaid.

“A couple of years ago I saw it through a social media group - I was like ‘stop it…a mermaid calendar!’

“My only tattoo is a mermaid, my car is a mermaid and on my list of things to do before I die was to be a mermaid.”

Diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 38, Marissa thought breast cancer was something older women got.

“I wasn’t inspecting my breasts because I was only 38.”

Being aware

In December, 2022, Marissa’s cancer resurfaced as metastatic stage four and she’s grateful for the time she spent in Western Australia creating the mermaid calendar.

“With cancer, I feel like I’m fighting every day. It just doesn’t stop.

“(Fifi) made me the Sun Goddess – she said: ‘you’re a person who lights everyone up’.

“When she revealed her photo, that was exactly what I felt like.

“For me, it’s about continuing to create that awareness that women need to keep checking themselves.

“It’s about being aware of your own body,” Marissa says.

Proceeds from the Coastal Mermaids 2025 calendar and documentary will help Not Putting on a Shirt update their global directory of ‘flat-friendly’ surgeons, attend key conferences and advocate globally for aesthetic flat closure.