In 1991, at the age of 37, my mother first faced the challenges of breast cancer and the associated treatments. I, aged 8, witnessed her setting out on what would be a 21 year long journey that resulted in her death in 2013. Her attitude to her experience, and the support she gave to fellow cancer sufferers, are the inspiration for my challenge, and fundraising goal, in loving memory of this strong and special woman.

During the various phases of her treatment, my mom never backed down. She hit her treatment hard, with a smile on her face and never once complained of the harsh side effects. How could I pay tribute to the courage and tenacity that she showed for so long? By challenging myself to do something completely out of my comfort zone that I wasn’t yet good at and did not enjoy.

I have done many half marathons and am now at a point where I do them comfortably. I really enjoy running and cycling, and cricket isn’t too bad either.  Swimming, on the other hand, is something that has plagued me. I have never been a strong swimmer, I don’t enjoy the water and I have a fear of open expanses like lakes, dams and rivers. In addition, I have always thought of swimming as a boring and tedious form of exercise.

As you can see, this sport ticks the boxes of being a massive challenge to me, and so I have traded in my running shoes for water wings. My goal: the Jubilee River Swim, a 10km Thames River swim from Maidenhead to Windsor. 4 hours of swimming – tough on my body and tough on my mind!

Training began in the gym pool with lots of laps to get my bearings. I have now graduated to training in a lake, where I practice swimming in open water in water temperatures around 14 degrees. Summoning the motivation to train at 7.30am in sub 10 degree weather in a freezing lake gives me a small amount of insight into what my mother must have had to face walking into a day of chemo and radiation treatment. Her power of the mind, optimism and faith keeps me determined.

My mom always helped people and that was often her motivation for the general things she participated in. In true Debby-style she even managed to turn her experience with cancer into a way of helping people around her.

In her chemo treatment she made numerous friends and helped many people through their treatment with her loving personality, often staying after her treatment session whilst others had theirs, just to chat to them and help them through their struggles. Even in her own suffering she was completely selfless and a true inspiration to me and those whose lives she touched.

I have just over a month left to quadruple the distances I am currently swimming to ready myself for the event and just over a month to raise money for a cause that I believe my mom would appreciate. That is Breast Cancer Care; a charity that focuses on care and support for people with the disease as opposed to the research that many other organisations fund. My mom would have wanted this money to go towards helping those people suffering now, just as she did with her love and laughter and light.

My mom won't be there in person when I cross the finish line on the 8th June this year. But even through her death she is teaching me and supporting me to be consistently enthusiastic about trying new things and doggedly determined to achieve the things I thought I couldn't do, no matter what the end result is.

So, I'm giving this a go and diving head first into a tough personal challenge in memory of a strong and compassionate woman that I will always look up to.

Some days only the fact that this is for my mom gets me into that lake, but other days it’s my growing love for swimming!

Thank you for your support.