The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A grandma who has just completed chemotherapy is saying thanks and getting fit by raising money for charity alongside her daughter.
Teresa Thorpe was diagnosed with colon cancer in November after her condition had previously been mis-diagnosed since March.
Now the 54-year-old, daughter Kimberley Waite and occasionally grandson Evan (3) are running and walking a total of 56 miles through February to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
“The treatment I have had has been fantastic and I’ve been treated so brilliantly by the NHS that I wanted to give something back,” said Teresa. “I saw the 56-mile challenge and thought it was perfect as not only will it help me get back fit, but I can also say thank you by raising money.”
Teresa will hear in March if the five rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy she went for treatment in Lincoln for were successful.
She first noticed there was something wrong last March, but after months of visits to various healthcare professionals, a change in doctor led to her having a colonoscopy and diagnosis of stage three colon cancer in November.
“I still feel as fit as a fiddle,” said Teresa who only started her job at You Garden just before her diagnosis.
“The website suggests doing two miles a day but we’ve been steadily doing more and more each day, pushing it up including doing ten miles on some day.
“We tend to start off walking but then we’re running the by the end, though we do walk more when Evan’s with us and he likes being pushed along on his scooter.
“I think we’ve done between 25 and 30 miles, so we’re already about half way.
“We’re in a Facebook group of people all running the 56 miles in February and it’s really inspiring.
“We’ve also got our own pages and updating others with our achievements as well as posting still photos.
“Kimberley is my inspiration. She’s motivating and pushing me to get out every day.”
Kimberley (32), said of her mum: “She’s a superwoman.
“She’s always there for us and always supportive.
“You can take time together for granted but doing this every day has been great.
“I didn’t think we could get any closer but it’s brought us even closer.
“Evan too always enjoys time with his nanna.”
