Thank you for visiting my page.

I’m supporting Sarcoma UK, a national charity that funds vital research, offers support for anyone affected by sarcoma cancer and campaigns for better treatments. Sarcoma is a type of cancer that develops in the bone and soft tissue. It is difficult to diagnose and one of the hardest to treat. By supporting me, we can help change this. Your donation will help researchers find answers, keep our Support Line open, and raise awareness to improve treatment and standards of care.

In 2022 I raced Ironman UK, having won my age group at this race in 2016 and qualifying and racing in the prestigious Hawaii Ironman. The intention in 2022 was to race in Hawaii again. As with 2016, only a win would qualify. The Ironman is a long-distance triathlon, starting with a 3.9km swim, then into a 180km bike and finishing with a 42km marathon distance run.

I trained very specifically for this event and preparation went well. Come race day during the swim and bike leg I was comfortably 1st in my age with around 40 minutes lead on 2nd place. Surprisingly, at the age of 51, I was also sitting 2nd lady overall. With the cameras on me in transition, I started the run feeling strong.

Heading up the first short steep climb of the run, I felt a sharp pain in my abdominal area. The pain became worse further into the marathon, and my only option was to resort to walking. I finished 2nd in my age and 10th woman overall. I was disappointed but the week after the race, noticed a large mass in my abdominal area, where the pain had been. Thankfully some incredibly swift action taken by the GP and I was referred for urgent scans.

Three weeks later, my husband and I were sat in a consulting room being told I had cancer in my abdominal cavity.

Later that same year, I had surgery to remove a 5kg mass of cancer and spent two months in the Queen Elizabeth hospital recovering from the biggest surgery performed by this hospital.

Due to the size of the cancer I also had to lose a kidney, adrenal gland, part of my bowel, the psoas fascia, part of my abdominal wall and part of the aorta. I was informed it would be a year to walk pain free... which is pretty spot on.

Now, just over a year on, thanks to the incredible surgery performed by my consultant, I am back racing. Having to pinch myself at the thought of this, I wanted to raise funds to support this incredibly rare cancer.

Thank you for your support.