00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Three weeks after my surgery was when
00:10 the rest of my running club crew were doing the Race for Life.
00:14 And it was really important for them
00:16 to do it because I was going through this journey.
00:20 And so I went to support them and then thought,
00:22 actually, anyone can sign up for Race for Life.
00:25 And you can just walk it.
00:27 You don't have to be super fit.
00:28 You don't have to be a runner to do Race for Life.
00:30 So I thought, I'll just walk it with them.
00:31 I'll just walk the little 3K circuit, and it'll be fine.
00:34 But then I got a bit giddy, as you do,
00:37 because the atmosphere is always really good.
00:39 It was so positive there.
00:41 And it was lovely to see a load of people I'd not seen.
00:45 And it was great.
00:46 So I started running, as you do.
00:47 And I thought, I'll just run a little bit, and then I'll walk.
00:50 And then I carried on, just because the wave
00:52 of positivity and just joy just takes you through.
00:59 And the music played, and people clapping and cheering.
01:02 It was just lovely.
01:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:10 I'd had regular mammograms.
01:32 I'd been having yearly mammograms,
01:34 obviously, because of the family history with my sister
01:36 and my mum.
01:38 So I'd had a mammogram in the April, and it was clear.
01:41 And I just happened to be checking again in the August,
01:43 and that's when I found a lump.
01:45 So it really is important to check on a regular basis,
01:48 and I can't stress that enough.
01:50 Karen turned up just to see us all.
01:57 We thought, obviously, she was just
01:59 coming to share more news of her new granddaughter, who
02:02 had just been born.
02:04 And obviously, she shared the news, obviously,
02:06 that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer.
02:10 And I think we were all just completely gobsmacked
02:12 and just didn't know what to say to that.
02:14 And for this year, it was a no-brainer.
02:18 We're going to be doing it again, hopefully,
02:19 next May, all together.
02:20 We've all signed up again.
02:22 We're going to be on that start line with Karen,
02:24 and we're going to be on the finish line with her.
02:26 When people talk about the support
02:30 you get at the side for race, and it's lovely.
02:32 But race for life is a little bit special.
02:35 Celebrating people's lives is just such a lovely thing to do.
02:38 And it's not there to be sad.
02:40 It's not there to generate sad memories.
02:43 It's like when I look back at my mom, I don't think--
02:46 my first thought isn't, I'm sad because she's not here.
02:49 And don't get me wrong, I am sad because she's not here.
02:52 But I'm also really grateful for all the amazing times
02:55 that we had, all the lovely memories.
02:58 And I could imagine my mom at the side of that,
03:00 because my mom would come to stuff like that.
03:02 And if she'd have been here, she'd
03:04 have absolutely been there cheering me on.
03:06 But you've also got this amazing tribe around you
03:08 that are cheering you on regardless.
03:10 And that's just so lovely.
03:11 And I think that embodies that joyful, positive spirit
03:16 that the race for life gives you.
03:19 It's like, why wouldn't you want to do that?
03:21 So like when my running crew said to me,
03:24 we're doing the race for life for you,
03:25 I can't tell you how special that makes you feel.
03:28 It's amazing.
03:29 And that positivity is something that
03:31 takes you through the next part of your journey.
03:33 And that is just amazing.
03:35 The power in that, I can't even describe.
03:37 It's just lovely.
03:38 So I can't wait to do it.
03:40 This year, I'm not doing it for me.
03:41 I'm doing it for everybody else that's going through it.
03:44 And I hope I can share some of that positivity
03:46 by doing the race.
03:48 (gentle music)
