My Story

My friends have ran the Great North Run a number of times, I have been just a 5k runner and probably pretty slow at that, but during the height of Covid my Mum developed invasive lobular breast cancer, which is a cancer that begins in the milk producing glands (lobules) and it is harder to detect, as it does not form in a lump in the breast tissue or under the arm and can spread to the surrounding breast tissue and to the lymph nodes and to other areas of the body quite quickly.

Breast cancer is not in our family, so it was a massive shock to learn my Mum had this cancer as it wasn’t on our radar and as a result it has taught us all a lot about this type of cancer and checking ourselves for any possible signs.

Mum has since had a mastectomy and radiation therapy and is now on daily medication. She is currently well but it has impacted her both mentally and physically and has also shocked us as her family, but Mum is determined and is unwavering and pushing on and enjoying life, as she should do!

I am super proud of my Mum, of her strength and her amazing courage.

Cancers and breast cancers are horrific, they impact so many of us, they are scary, and I would like to do my part in trying to raise some funds to help support continued research and development and hence my entry into the Great North Run of 2022 and turning that 5k run into a 21k run.