Cancer patient’s global challenge
A BREAST cancer survivor who had a double mastectomy has set off on a world cycling tour even though she is still fighting the disease.
Gabbi Gratrix, 45, embarked on the ride taking in Europe, Asia, Australasia, North America, South America, Antarctica and Africa with her partner Chris O’Hare. They began last July and anticipate it will take seven years to complete.
Gabbi, whose late father was former Manchester City footballer Roy Gratrix said: “We are having to fight off wild dogs, and we’ve been sleeping in wild boar country, but we just keep going.
“When you have been faced with death, you don’t know what life is going to throw at you. So we are just taking each day as it comes.
“We left our home in Preston last year – and we won’t be going back there for another six years until we have finished our journey.”
Gabbi was diagnosed in February 2017 and had months of chemotherapy at Manchester’s Christie Hospital. She said: “I lost my hair, and I felt sick every day having the treatment, but Chris was Gabbi with Chris after her treatment
there supporting me every step of the way. I couldn’t have done it without him.”
The surgeons said she needs to check herself regularly and if there is any pain, she must return to the UK immediately for treatment.
She said: “If I do feel any pain anywhere, or lumps, then I have to get straight on a plane but I’m hoping that it won’t come to that.”