I lost my mum to cancer... Now I'm getting dirty for the cause

Catherine Price was aged just 13 when her mum died from cancer and coming to terms with her death hasn’t been easy.

Having also experienced the upsetting loss of four other close relations to cancer - Catherine is getting together with her close friend Danni Floyd to take on Race for Life Pretty Muddy.

The 24 year-old support worker is keen to urge women of all shapes and sizes to muck in and join the fight by signing up for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life Pretty Muddy event in Exeter on Saturday 22 July at Westpoint.

Cancer is a disease which has robbed her also of her young cousin Gemma who died from a brain tumour in her twenties and her aunty and uncle Carol and Gareth, all died of cancer at a young age.

Catherine, who lives in the city centre, has been helped through the loss of her mum thanks to the close bond with her sisters Natasha age 30 and Danielle age 27.

She explained: “I want to raise money for cancer research so I am running for my family and my relations and for everyone who has been affected by this horrible illness.

“This is for you mum - I love you so much and I want to make you proud.”

Catherine will be at the start line of this mud-splattered obstacle course which takes place at Westpoint, Clyst St Mary on Saturday 22 July.

She recalls the pain of losing her own mum to breast cancer.

“My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2004 - she became very unwell but went through chemotherapy and then recovered. Then sadly in 2006 it had come back very aggressively in her bones and liver. We had been on holiday to America two weeks before and all I remember was coming home from school and being told my mum had been taken into hospital.

“She had become very ill at that point and I didn’t know how ill she really was, We were told she had two weeks to live and she died about a week Before Christmas in 2006.

“It was a tough time, being a teenager and not having my mum around. I developed an eating disorder and I didn’t cope with her death very well.

“Everyone who knew mum said how caring and loving she was. There was never a bad word spoken about her and we enjoyed our family holidays in Looe and will always treasure those memories.”

So Catherine will be getting muddy to raise funds for research and will be tackling scramble nets and climbing frames to inflatable slides and hurdles.

Participants too will face a range of muddy obstacles to crawl under, clamber over and charge through - all to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK’s life-saving research.

Amy Salmon, Cancer Research UK’s Exeter Event Manager, said: “We hope as many women as possible will join the fight at Pretty Muddy in Exeter. We’re calling on local ladies to pull on their trainers and join like-minded women committed to the cause. We’ve no doubt that they’ve got the muddy motivation to take on the challenge and help beat cancer sooner.

Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work relies on the public’s support. Thanks to the generosity of its supporters, the charity was able to spend around £2 million last year in the South West on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research - helping more men, women and children survive.

Amy added: “Every day, around 90 people are diagnosed with cancer in the South West*. That’s why we’re calling on women to sign up right now. Money raised - whether it’s £10 or £100 - will help Cancer Research UK scientists find new ways to treat cancer and save more lives.”

To enter Race for Life Pretty Muddy today go to raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.