The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lily and Leva’s inspiration keeps hundreds running
Youngster fighting cancer addresses participants as up to 800 don their running shoes to help fight disease
Two brave Perth youngsters provided inspiration for hundreds of runners at the weekend.
T-shirts were worn in honour of Lily Douglas and Leva Stewart as the city staged this year’s Race for Life event.
Lily was amidst a sea of pink as around 800 women and – for the first time – men gathered to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.
The nine-year-old took to the stage with mum Jane, dad Scott and best pal Cerys Robertson to tell her tale, cheered on by participants, many of whose own lives had been touched by cancer.
Jane revealed that Lily, nine, was making good progress in her fight against cancer.
Medics at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh at first said she had just a 15% chance of beating the illness but there was applause as she revealed Lily had responded so well to treatment, it was now up at around 70%.
Lily, meanwhile, had a beaming smile for everyone.
Asked how important it was to have so many people backing her fight, the youngster said: “It’s really important.
“I’m just so happy to see people here supporting me.”
Jane revealed Lily was running for all the friends she has met at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and also in memory of Bradley Lowery, who died this month at the age of six.
Leva, who is fighting rhabdomyosarcoma, was not at the race, having recently undergone an operation to remove a tumour but Jane said they had been heartened by news of her good spirits.
Almost 300 runners took part in the 10K race, which saw participants of all ages set out at 9.30am.
It was won by Niamh Young from Perth in a time of 46 minutes and six seconds. Following were Rosie Aitken from Perth and Sandra Taylor from Bridge of Earn.
Among the other finishers was Dannielle Nash, 25, from Markinch in Fife, who said: “I was running for my granddad, Benjamin, who lost his life in February, on what was World Cancer Day.
“It’s the first time I’ve done anything like this and I went right for the 10K. It was even harder than I expected.”
Dannielle finished in a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes and 47 seconds.
Organisers said more than £62,000 had been raised by the Perth event.
I’m just so happy to see people here supporting me. LILY DOUGLAS