I'm running the Great North Run 2025 as part of #TeamBowelCancerUK in memory of my amazing, beautiful, lovely mum Marie Syrett who sadly lost her battle with bowel cancer in January 2024.

My mum had bowel cancer 3 times. She was misdiagnosed for months before finally being sent for a colonoscopy, by the time she was seen her tumour was already at 10cm+ in size. She had numerous operations to remove the cancer, including using a stoma bag for the last few years of her life, but in September 2022 she was given the news that it had become terminal and was spreading.

In addition to this, my mum also had cervical cancer, my nanna had breast cancer and leukaemia and my grandad had lung and anal cancer. I have devastatingly lost all of them, at 27 years old I have no immediate family left. Around the time my mum was told she was terminal, one of my closest friends was told she had breast cancer in her twenties. It seems that almost everybody I meet has some personal connection to cancer or has lost a loved one in this way - it needs to end.

I’ve chosen to support Bowel Cancer UK as they're the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity. They’re determined to save lives and improve the quality of life of everyone affected by bowel cancer. They support and fund targeted research, provide expert information and support to patients and their families, educate the public and professionals about the disease and campaign for early diagnosis and access to best treatment and care.

How your donation could help make a difference:

• £10 could deliver an awareness talk.

• £25 could provide an hour’s expert nurse support on our Ask the Nurse service.

• £50 could help support policy work to improve bowel screening.

By donating today, we can help Bowel Cancer UK achieve their vision of a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer.

THANK YOU, for kind words, donations and support. 🩷