Born in Cape Town, Shelley Hanna was educated at a Wynberg Girls' School and completed a BA degree at the University of Cape Town. After three years as a high school English teacher she left for overseas, working in England and France as a stable hand, au pair, cook and office temp. After meeting her New Zealand husband-to-be, Bruce, in London, she travelled to New Zealand. Shelley and Bruce spent ten years on the east coast of the South Island where their two children were born. The family now lives on a berry farm in Hawkes Bay.

Shelley Hanna was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, at the age of 41, and underwent a double mastectomy followed by three months of aggressive chemotherapy. After her treatment she began swimming with a local masters club and not only did it help her mental and physical fight back, she discovered a previously unknown talent. Shelley went on to win 3 gold medals in her age group at the 2004 NZ masters Games and went on to train as an Encore Instructor with the YWCA. to celebrate her fifth year in remission, Shelley cycled 500km through Vietnam and Cambodia with her husband, in a fundraising venture for Oxfam NZ. Sink or Swim is her poignant, inspiring and highly entertaining story of her journey from cancer victim to cancer survivor.