Team Lou - update: I am kindly being joined at the race by others supporting Lou's cause too: Casper Smithson, Joyce Bonin, Jake Bonin, Lizzie Farrell & James Barlow. Chris and Henry Marshall and Charlotte and Elsa Cook will be taking part in the 5k on the day also.

I met Louise when she interviewed me for one of my first roles after University and she became one of my closest friends.

Lou was truly one of a kind and had a positive attitude to anything that came her way. I was lucky enough to share many good times with Lou- she was there through the good and challenging times, always giving the best advice and making time to laugh. 

Lou was diagnosed with an aggressive form of stomach cancer, Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma, in September 2020. She went through extensive and exhausting treatment, but still maintained a positive mindset, coining the phrase 'love the life you live'. She loved to shock her medical team through her treatment by running as long as her bones would let her and learning how to throw some shapes on a pole! 

Louise passed away less than a year from her diagnosis, of which still does not seem real. After her memorial in late 2021, several of her friends and family rallied together to think of ways to celebrate Lou's life and raise vital funds and awareness of rare diseases.

This year, I am running the Perkins Great Eastern Run in memory of Lou. I know that no matter how hard the training and race may be, I will have Lou in my mind and I am doing this for her.

Thank you for your donations, each one is greatly appreciated and will go towards the good work that Cancer52 do to support those with rare cancers, such as Louise's.

If anyone wants to join me in the race, even just to wear one of our 'Team Lou' t-shirts, it would mean a lot to me.

Thank you!

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