Christmas 2021 should have been a time for joy and celebration, as Covid subsided and life slowly returned to normal. But for Loughborough College student Paige Hope, life was turned upside-down when her mum Kelly was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Now the 17-year-old, who studies Level 3 Extended Diploma in Uniformed Public Services, is running and walking the London Half Marathon on 3rd April to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Paige, of Melton Mowbray, said: “That Christmas was awful. it was all over the place when we received the awful news, which no one wants to hear no matter what time of the year it is. So I wanted to do something about it and, in honour of my mum, I’m running the London half marathon this year.”
Paige said her mum has faced an ongoing battle with the vicious disease since 2015 when she had surgery to defeat cervical cancer.
Heartbreak struck again for the family when she was later diagnosed with bladder cancer but brave Kelly was again victorious in defeating it with chemotherapy.
When she was diagnosed again with peritoneal cancer, the family was told it was terminal.
Paige said: “My mum is such a hard working and strong women, she always focuses on other people and not herself. She’s been fighting this battle for a very long time yet still she is smiling and making everyone happy! She deserves the world and more!”
Paige said she wants to raise as much as she can for Macmillan Cancer Support by taking part in the half marathon which snakes 13.1 miles through the City of Westminster. She has already raised £1,000.
“It’s been a hard time for all of my family and this is why I want to raise money for cancer research, to help other people who are living with cancer, and people who are suffering with any type of cancer. It’s a tough battle,” she said.
Visit Just Giving to donate.