A young Wigan woman is taking on a marathon challenge following her mum's cancer diagnosis
A Wigan mum’s shock blood cancer diagnosis is inspiring her daughter to take on a gruelling athletics challenge.
Katherine Preece, 56, is currently receiving intensive chemotherapy, having discovered that she had acute myeloid leukaemia in November.
Doctors, who say they cure around 50 per cent of people in her condition, says she is progressing well, although family know there remain tough times ahead, especially if the chemo hasn’t reduced the cancer cells sufficiently for her not to need a bone marrow transplant.
But in the meanwhile her athletic daughter Abby has decided to take herself out of her sporting comfort zone in order to raise money for the charity Cure Leukaemia in Katherine’s name.
The 24-year-old mental health social worker from Orrell runs for Liverpool Harriers but marathons are not really her thing, having only run Manchester’s before now, which she describes as having been “very tough.”
But she wants to challenge herself and so on April 12 she will take on the Paris Marathon.
A GoFundMe page has been launched with a £4,000 target and on it she writes: “Those who know me well will know that my first marathon in 2024 was… an ordeal to say the least.
"I swore loudly and repeatedly that I would never do one again, as it is simply not the distance which I enjoy - or believe that I massively excel in.
"Yet I guess here I am, willingly signing up for the 26.2 miles all over again: only this time every mile, every step, every moment I want to give up will be for my beautiful Mum, who is loved by so many (all her family, all her wonderful friends and all of my lovely friends too) for how kind, caring and loving she always has been and always will be.”
Katherine, who hails from Orrell but currently lives in Up Holland, was on holiday with 63-year-old husband Douglas on holiday in Greece last October when she began to feel very tired..
She then began complaining of a pain in her side, went to see her GP who sent her to Southport A&E.
Eventually she was transferred to Whiston Hospital where she was told the distressing news that she had acute myeloid leukaemia.
The intensive chemo has been accompanied by bone marrow biopsies which show that it is reducing the cancer cells. A third test, to be held on a date yet to be arranged, will decide whether a marrow transplant is necessary or that the therapy has done the trick.
Abby said: “Mum is my best friend and the strongest person I know, but she is understandably very anxious and has up and down days.
“There are no words to describe the fear, the helplessness, or the heartbreak of watching someone you love so much face something so devastating.”
Abby has been in training for the big race. Some of it is similar to what she already does with the Harriers but then she does a long run each Sunday, adding on a couple of miles each time. The most recent was 12 miles and the next will be 14.