Thanks for visiting my page. This year I am running the NY Marathon for the East Lancs Hospice which is the preferred charity of a great woman and former colleague at Hyndburn Leisure - Anne Greenwood who sadly died of cancer in April last year.
Anne worked at Hyndburn Sports Centre for 18 years during which time she was well-liked and respected by staff and customers alike. In that time she not only inspired true friendship with other members of staff but openly and without prejudice encouraged customers to not only undertake their chosen sport but to enjoy it - her sale of Leisure Passes was legendary!
Anne was born in to a family of nine children and married her childhood sweetheart Stephen at 17. They had three children, Sarah, Justin and Adam of whom she was immensely proud and two adored grandchildren, Erin and Dante, who live in Italy with Sarah. Her commitment to her family was so much so that she and Stephen bought a holiday home in Italy in order that they could enjoy seeing the grandchildren grow up. Anne was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 49. Unfortunately, due to the fact that screening is not available until the age of 50 under the NHS, this was to her enormous disadvantage.
Despite everything, Anne always remained positive and never showed any sign of feeling sorry for herself. On the contrary, throughout her illness she continued to repeat how lucky she was, to not have young children depending on her during her treatment, to have a supportive family, to have had a good quality of life. In September 2009, after 18 months 'clear', Anne was re-diagnosed. This time the cancer had spread to the liver and was terminal. She died in Bolzano hospital in Italy, where she had chosen to transfer for treatment, on the 25th April 2010 aged 52 years.
In her final days she repeated to family how lucky she had been to live a simple yet full life, and that she said the key to happiness in life is to always be grateful for what you have. She stressed that she herself would change nothing she had done in her short life. Anne was always a sports fanatic. She loved walking, netball and running. She actually ran the race for life in a fantastic record time in June 2009, not knowing that 2 months later she would have been re-diagnosed.
Anne was also a fantastic cook, hostess and mentor and would always encourage others to make the most of their talents. She would be the first person to encourage and support such a good cause and always praised the East Lancs Hospice, saying that, all being well, she would return from Italy and go there, where she had stood by one of her best friends just a just short time before.
Anne's family, as we all do, would never have imagined that cancer would affect their lives so badly. Unfortunately none of us can be sure it never will. That’s why it is so important to support cancer charities.
Please give generously.
