Jo Rees – from St Helens – will run the London Marathon on Sunday, hoping to raise £3,000 for the PLANETS Cancer Charity.
She has been inspired to take part in the marathon by the story of Karen Dolan.
Karen was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer, enduring downstaging chemotherapy, which allowed her to be considered borderline operable and able to have a Whipple procedure. This bought Karen valuable time with her family, but she sadly passed away in 2010 when her daughters Emily and Holly were just 21 and 13 years old.
Jo will dedicate Mile 23 of the marathon in memory of Karen. She will also be running in memory of her Uncle Mick and others who have lost their lives to this terrible disease.
Jo says:
“As I run it, I will be thinking of Karen, Emily and Holly. It’s a reminder that so many children and young people lose a parent too soon, and to make as many memories as we can, whilst we can.
“After saying I would never run another marathon, losing several stones and then putting most of it back on again, I find myself training to run London 2022.
“These 26.2 miles are not about me. I’m training to run 26.2 miles to raise awareness and money for PLANETS charity, its doctors, research teams and patients, in memory of my Uncle Mick who lost his 17-year battle with cancer last year.
Article continues below this advertisement “PLANETS and the founding team do extraordinary work that really makes a positive difference to people’s lives.
“All I have to do is get round those 26.2 miles and raise as much money as I can in the process!
“This is an epic challenge, the training involved is time-consuming on top of everyday life, but I’m determined to get round, and do the very best I can.
“To help get motivated and round I’m dedicating and running a mile for 26 different people that have passed away from Pancreatic or liver cancer or who are associated with the PLANETS charity.
“Please sponsor me and give what you can and follow my journey as I shine a light on people’s real-life stories. It’s going to be emotional.”
As of midday Tuesday 27th September, Jo had raised £1,420 of her £3,000 target.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so on Jo Rees’s Just Giving page.
