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How this strange photo of a box of lemons could actually save your life

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PHOTO: Facebook
PHOTO: Facebook

Sign of breast cancer = lump. Right?

Actually, it turns out there's soooo much more to it than that.

And that's exactly what Corrine Ellsworth Beaumont has set out to show you.

Using lemons, the London-based designer aims to illustrate visual signs of the potentially life-threatening illness -- and her clever image has been shared like wildfire.

Corrine, who lost both her grandmothers to breast cancer at the ages of 40 and 62, says she found there wasn't enough readily available information about the visual symptoms, and she felt compelled to come up with a solution, BBC reports.

"Some patients don't want to talk about breasts or look at them," she says – which is why she opted to use lemons to illustrate the signs.

"Often women used in campaigns don't look like ordinary women – but even those with little literacy can understand this."

The most shared of the various images is made up on 12 lemons in what looks like an egg carton. There's something amiss with each of the fruit, which serves to symbolise the various visual signs women should be on the lookout for, such as dimpling, skin erosion, indentations and retracted nipples.

Corinne, founder of the charity Worldwide Breast Cancer, originally created the Know Your Lemons image  in 2003, but when former cancer sufferer Erin Smith Chieze shared the image on Facebook it went viral.

Erin was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer after identifying an indentation in her breast similar to the one showed in the lemons image.

"Someone once posted a picture on Facebook of what breast cancer can look like," she wrote on Facebook.

"Not feel, but look like. In December 2015 when I saw an indentation that looked like one of those pictures I instantly knew I had breast cancer. I tried to feel for a tumour but my tumour was non palpable. I was diagnosed with breast cancer five days later and with Stage 4 the following month.

"I knew what breast cancer was. I knew all about self exams, but a picture of what to look for keyed me into knowing I had a terminal disease. We need to give REAL information, not cute hearts. Without having seen a picture randomly with real information I wouldn't have known what to look for."

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