EVERYONE KNOWS OF SOMEONE AFFECTED BY CANCER!

Hi my name is Mary-Kate Williamson I'm 22 years old and this is my first time doing any sort of race - infact if you know me well, you will know I'm not one for exercise at all so you may be shocked I'm even doing this!
Why I'm doing race for life: My dad was rather stubborn... He had started to loose his voice and had various hospial appointments to get it checked out... The first one when he got there, there was an emergency and his appointment was cancled. The second one he found out what exactly he was going to have done - he needed to be put to sleep using a mask over his face but because he was scared of this he didnt go through with it and arrange to go back... When the next appointment came through in the post he didnt tell anyone, not even my mum, he called the hospital and said he is off to australlia for 6 months!!! And therefore he missed that appointment too. In november 2005 he had a bleed to the brain, after 12 hours in a&e at watford they realised what had happened and he was sent to a hospital in queens square london... anyway after a long time in 2 different hospials, he came home where my amazing mother looked after him and helped he to get better.... Then we finally got him to sort the voice thing out - turned out he had throat cancer. He had then Laryngectomy (the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma). We all learnt to lip read off him... well tried to, he used to get annoyed if we couldnt understand him and I think I would of too.  He had a course of radition (where he had to be pinned down into a huge mask, which was his worst nightmare) the cancer went.. but it shortly returned and they said there was nothing more that they could do. My dad returned from the hospital and said to me "I'm a dead man walking". I cant help but think if we had known sooner what it was he may still be here with us.

 I lost my Dad, Arthur Williamson to cancer when I was just 17 (39 days before my 18th birthday - I was counting..)

I'm also running for; 
My auntie Patsy Enright who sadly lost her battle with lung cancer in 2010. She was a wonderful person and will be missed by the whole family. xxx
My grandmother who unfortunately I never met as she died 7 years before I was born due to breast cancer. xxx

I want to help cancer research uk to raise money and keep families together for longer.  
...and I promised my dad that I would do race for life!


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