Through my private healthcare provided through my job, I had the chance to take a health MOT. Feeling as good as I did, when the tests came back to say I had Leukaemia it was such a shock, it was horrendous. I thought I was healthy – I never smoked, I didn’t drink, and I’d only discovered running a year before. I was diagnosed with Leukaemia early on in the Covid pandemic, when there wasn’t a vaccine and a common cold could have killed me, let alone Covid. What kept me going when I was in hospital was the thought of being back out in the park and doing something for somebody else – other than my immediate family – and telling my story and inspiring people.
The moment I was off chemo and allowed to just go for a walk in the park I restarted my training, which was so hard! People had said to me, ‘Never mind running a kilometre or two, you won’t be able to walk,’ which I’d dismissed as rubbish, having regularly run 20km, but of course, my body had been taken to a place where it needed a lot of retraining and healing.
To overcome this, I’d go out every single day and train in a mask – and not just one of those light ones but one of the proper full-on surgical ones – because I was at such high risk. As my strength returned I started to enter various short races, then bigger ones, but the turning point came when I got involved with the Family Holiday Charity. I came across the charity via A-Rosa’s connection with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Our trade body works closely with this charity that helps disadvantaged families who haven’t had the luxury of even a day’s holiday in their life, and it quickly became very dear to my heart. Less than eight months after my chemo I ran the London Marathon for the Family Holiday Charity and now run a big event each month, for them and for Cancer Research.
Our Run the River challenge is the logical next step in helping others. My illness is quite a tricky one. I’m in remission but every three months I have complex checks and I know I’m living on borrowed time. But running, raising money, and inspiring people to get out there to do what they need to do keeps me going. I feel free when I’m running and after a run, I feel like I can handle anything; it gives me a sort of superpower.