Hello and thanks  for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I’m lucky to say, that until very recently, cancer, for me, had been a blissfully abstract concept. The opposite is true for my husband; his wonderful mum died from the disease when he was just 16, Paula was 39.

Then, last year, my beautiful friend L was plunged into the dark waters of a breast cancer diagnosis. She faced six months of chemotherapy in the knowledge that chemo was only part of the fight - major surgery loomed at the finish line.

Each chemo session began with the dreaded cold cap application, in true L style, she was prepared to put up with a bit of agony if it meant she kept her lovely hair. This Is Me (now her theme tune) playing on a loop until the pain subsided, along with her sheer bloody-minded grit got her through every single time. 

With each chemo cycle she got sicker, weaker and I’m sure more frightened, though she never once said so. Instead she talked of how blessed she was to be in the hands of such incredible doctors at The Christie, the gratitude she had for the kindness of staff during each and every visit and how lucky she was to live on the doorstep of such an incredible, world class cancer hospital. For L, treatment at The Christie was a privilege never a right.

The Christie helped my lovely friend just as many years before, it tried to help the mum-in-law that neither me nor my children sadly ever got to meet.

So it feels right, now that L is well (and looking totally fabulous), to do something small to say thank you to The Christie - hence my attempt to raise just a bit of dosh by (badly) running the Manchester 10K.

If you are in a position to make a donation,, however small, that would be amazing and very much appreciated. If not, no worries, I know what a pain it is to be constantly asked for money.

Wish me and my not-built-for-running body luck!

Fiona x

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