Ollie on the run, not from his Mum, but for his Mum

A READING teenager is tackling a 15km (9.3 mile) run to Wokingham this weekend, to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Ollie Gerring, 13, helped his Mum through two tough years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Now, he wants to raise money to help other mums in the future, with better and “kinder” treatments.

It has been almost five years since his Mum, Vic, had treatment and surgery after noticing a dimple on her left breast.

She said: “It's been one heck of a journey that still continues today with injections and tablets. But throughout it all, Ollie has been amazing.

“At first, he was really scared that I might die and to be honest, so was I.

“I answered his questions honestly — I've always figured if he's old enough to ask them, he deserves an age appropriate answer. Together, we fought our way through what was nearly two years of treatment, surgeries, recovery.”

Ollie, who studies at The Wren School, has already raised more than £950 and is hoping to raise more.

Lucy Dennis, Cancer Research UK’s relationship manager for Berkshire, said the charity is delighted Ollie has decided to attempt the challenge.

“He has been doing lots of preparation and we’re sure he is going to have an amazing experience,” she said. “We can’t thank Ollie enough for his support and hope the people of Berkshire get behind him and show their support.”

She added: “Cancer Research UK has made enormous progress in the fight against cancer. The truth is Covid-19 has slowed us down — but we will never stop and we are absolutely determined to continue to create better cancer treatments for tomorrow and we could not do this without the support of people like Ollie.”