Cancer stopped me in my tracks but now I will run
Mum-of two puts radiotherapy behind her
AFTER signing up for the Great South Run last year, a Gosport mum-of-two was unable to lace up her trainers for the race after she was diagnosed with cancer.
But this year Cheryl Skedgel-Hill is ready to run 10 miles through the city after overcoming stage three breast cancer.
The 55-year-old said: ‘The news was a shock to me as they were 100 per cent sure it was a malignant tumour. I embarked on the journey that I hadn’t really anticipated going on.
‘One week later I had the tumour removed and lymph node check. The good news was that the nodes were clear, but the bad news was I had grade 3 which is the fastest growing, most likely to return type.
‘I was upset as I had arranged to do the Simplyhealth Great South Run with my siblings – I had watched one of my brothers complete it in 2017 and dared another family member.
‘This then went on to include two more brothers and my sister-in-law. Now I knew I would have to sit on the sidelines.’
Cheryl, who works at the Portsmouth Job Centre, began chemotherapy on her birthday in May last year and lost all of her hair. She finished radiotherapy a week after the event last year.
She said: ‘I made a decision that day that I would do the run in 2019.
‘I wanted to take back control and to feel strong and empowered. I longed to have a sense of achievement that within a year of completing cancer treatment I was running in events at my age.
‘I won’t take for granted that I can make choices and being fitter is one that I want to do.’
Earlier this year Cheryl and her brother Stephen ran the London Marathon and raised £4,400 for Worldwide Cancer Research. The pair are set to run together in this year’s Great South Run, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
To enter visit: Greatrun. org/South