Family in thank-you run for fire-hit cancer research unit

31-YEAR-OLD MUM’S LIFE WAS SAVED BY INSTITUTE’S PIONEERING STEM CELL WORK

THE family of a woman whose life was saved by the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute are going on the run to raise cash in the wake of the devastating fire at The Christie.

Claire Daniels, 31, from Gatley was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma when she was 19 and studying at Warwick University. The mum-of-two came back to Manchester following the diagnosis and had all her treatment at The Christie.

She underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy, before being told by doctors that her only chance of survival was a stem cell transplant, a treatment made possible by the stem cell research pioneered at the Cancer Research Institute.

High doses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy have a good chance of killing cancer cells, but also kill the stem cells in the bone marrow. They are then given back to the patient after high dose treatment so the bone marrow recovers.

Research in Manchester specifically on the use of growth factor hormones improving the success of treatment was paramount to Claire’s survival.

At the time she was told she would never have children naturally – but against all the odds she fell pregnant with her son Jackson, now five, and went on to have Teddy who is nearly two.

She said: “It was an absolute emotional rollercoaster at the time. My hus-