On 14th January 2023 I was admitted to Derriford Hospital Plymouth with SVC compression from a large mass in my chest and subsequently diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

I’d never been ill before yet I now found myself as an inpatient on Bracken ward at Derriford Hospital and within days I had started chemotherapy. We have three young children. It’s hard to put into words how shocked and terrified we were.

I was so lucky to have wonderful support from my family and friends and following 8 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy I am thankfully now in remission.

The treatment and care I received from the haematology and oncology teams at Derriford was nothing short of incredible. I can never thank them enough for all they did for me but by raising money for the PDLF I hope to be able to give something back to them.

The Plymouth and District Leukaemia Fund (PDLF) is a Derriford based charity. It has helped fund the conversion of Bracken and Birch wards, both of which I needed to spend time on. The charity has helped fund research and provides training within Derriford.

On September 14th I am going to run ‘Dartmoor in a day’; a 50km race from Okehampton to Ivybridge, self navigating over the moors. I’m running it with my husband Toby who has been my rock through all of this.

The run will be just a few weeks after the one year anniversary of finishing my treatment. I’ve always been a keen runner but this is going to be incredibly challenging given the treatment I needed to go through last year.

Any sponsorship you could offer is going towards this wonderful cause. I’ve found out the hard way that this can happen to anyone, and when you really need it charities like this are there to support you.

Thank you