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Earlier this year, our friend Claudia was faced with the devastating news that she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma. Claudia was in her final year of the Midwifery course at The University of Manchester before having to make the difficult decision to interrupt. Please read her story...

"After having back pain for 6 months, I woke up and couldn’t feel from my chest and below properly. I attended A&E where a large tumour on my spine was found, which was pressing on my spinal cord & going through to my chest too. I was transferred to a different hospital to have an emergency operation to have part of the tumour removed. The operation was successful but pathology found that my tumour was an extremely rare type of cancer called a rhabdomyosarcoma and was referred to The Christie. Treatment for this cancer is very potent and I have to undergo 9 rounds of intense chemotherapy, a major surgery to remove the rest of the tumour, radiotherapy and maintenance chemotherapy following treatment. Being diagnosed with cancer also meant I had to interrupt from my university course and my world had been turned completely upside down. I started treatment in March, and lost all of my hair just 2 weeks after starting treatment. Fast forward to June, I am 5/9 rounds of chemotherapy down and have had a successful second operation in Birmingham which included spinal fusion surgery to remove all of the cancer and its margins. I will soon be restarting chemotherapy to ensure there are no cancer cells remaining in my body, alongside radiotherapy".

Claudia would like us to donate the money to SarcomaUK. The race will be on 31st August at the Media City run through. We also have a few university lecturers on board! Any donation, no matter how small would be appreciated as a show of support to Claudia and her amazing family.

SarcomaUK is 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 us, 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.

Thank you for your support.