We really appreciate you taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. 

We are raising money for the Centre for Cancer Immunology. The University of Southampton is raising £25m to open the UK’s first dedicated Centre for Cancer Immunology at Southampton.
The University leads the UK in cancer immunology research. Building on this unrivalled expertise, we have launched a major fundraising campaign to open a world-leading research centre at Southampton General Hospital by the end of 2017. The build is over half way through but we need your help to reach our target and make it a reality.
We are on the cusp of exciting breakthroughs in curing cancer. Our new state-of-the-art Centre will enable us to pool our knowledge, extend our resources and accelerate our research progress. The Centre will be the first of its kind in the UK, connecting world-leading specialists with cutting-edge facilities in one dedicated, interdisciplinary hub.

Why are we doing this?

Last year, we sadly lost our gorgeous friend Ruth Bas Roa to Cancer. We want to do this for her and to raise money for a fantastic charity whilst pushing ourselves mentally and physically. 

Planned Events

Between us we are taking part in numerous events across the summer, feel free to come along as support us :D

• 23rd April 2017 - Southampton 10k Anna and Sarah are taking part in the Southampton 10k - http://www.abpsouthamptonhalf.co.uk/event-info/abp-10k-sign-up-for-2017/
• 7th May 2017 - Bristol 10k - Alice is running the Bristol 10k, go girl!
• 13th May 2017 Gauntlet Games - Anna, Sarah and Frankie are taking part in the Gauntlet games (10k). This is a 10k route with 20 obstacles - a great warm up for our final event we think! https://www.naomihouse.org.uk/events/518-gauntlet-games
• 19th August 2017 Tough Mudder half - Anna, Sarah, Frankie, Tina and Sian will be taking part in Tough Mudder Half. This is a 5 mile route with 13 obstacles - it really is meant to be a killer! https://toughmudder.co.uk/events/2017-south-west-half

Ruth's story (in Anna's words)

Ruth was just 39 years old when she passed away on 29th June 2016, surrounded by her friends and family in Valencia, Spain. She had been fighting Cancers arse for 3 years however the cancer had spread so viciously throughout her body it had taken control of her brain and there was no way that she would win this fight. 

2nd April 2013 - After months of complaining to the Southampton NHS doctors that she has severe back pain, Ruth was diagnosed with Cancer. It wasn't until she starting vomiting that her Mother demanded that she went back to Spain to seek medical advice. Having being rushed to A&E straight off the plane, she was told that she had Breast Cancer that had spread to her spine, there was also a build up of calcium in her kidneys meaning that they had started to fail also. Devastating news. Despite this, she remained extremely positive - she was going to fight this.

June 2013 - Sarah and I went to visit Ruth whilst she was undergoing chemo, she had lost lots of weight and all her hair was gone. Despite this, we had a fantastic weekend in Alcoy - one that we will never forget.

After a very tough few months of treatment, Ruth looked amazing. Her hair was growing, her skin started to glow again and she was getting stronger by the day. After living in Southampton for 8 years, Ruth decided to stay in Spain to see out her treatment and created a new life for herself along the beach of Alicante teaching young spainish children English. Ruth was loving her new life, and enjoying every single day with her spainish friends and family - she often visited the UK of course!

In September 2015 Ruth found out that the cancer had returned to her liver. She remained positive and continued to enjoy life in Alicante but was getting weaker. I spoke to Ruth a lot and whenever I asked how she was she always said that she felt 'really good' and 'was loving life in the sunshine' despite going through even more cancer treatment. You can imagine that it was a complete shock when I received the devastating news that the cancer had taken over Ruth's body including her brain and it was time to say goodbye. I flew out to Valencia and stayed with Ruth for her final week at the Valencia Cancer Hospital. It was a very peaceful yet a sad place of course - I can see why Ruth didn't enjoy going there for treatment. Ruth had visitors every day and her parents did not leave her bedside throughout. The doctors and nurses were amazing at such a difficult time and despite the language barrier always explained to me what was going on. The last thing she said to me was that she was so happy that I was there and to me this has meant absolutely everything. 

Ruth peacefully passed away at 9pm on Wednesday 29th June, surrounded by her family and friends. She did not have to fight anymore.

Ruth was a young, active and healthy woman. There was no reason why Cancer would want to choose her. We want to raise money to help cure Cancer so that no one else has to suffer in this way.

From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank you for visiting this page, supporting us and donating to this charity. For those of you who knew Ruth personally, we know that she will be with us every step of the way.

Anna, Sarah, Frankie, Alice, Tina and Sian xxxx

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