<div><span style="font-size: 1em;">These two wonderful ladies I'm proud to say were two of my best friends.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Fiona I'd known for over 40yrs since our school days and she unfortunately was battling with diabetes which was a battle she lost in July'23. Karen a friend since an anti-natal class over 18yrs a ago. She battled cancer in her foot 5yrs ago which resulted in the amputation of her right leg at the knee, and then in Sept'23 the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer which ultimately stole her life in Feb'24.</div><div><br></div><div>So what am I doing, well I'm going to be running the London Marathon on Sunday 21st April. For most people who know me you are probably thinking 'you are doing what! I didn't know you run!' And I didn't, my friends would run and go to the gym and I'd be 'yeah no thanks' then when Karen had her amputation she couldn't run and I just couldn't be bothered.</div><div><br></div><div>So one day I put my 'holiday trainers' on and went out walking a lot, jogging a bit and gradually the balance of walking to running was outweighed.</div><div><br></div><div>In 2023 I entered the marathon ballot and got the news 'you're in' and so the training began, and hence this request of you.</div><div><br></div><div>Please if you can donate a little, or a little bit more, please do for these worthy causes, while we can't help Fiona or Karen, they can help others who unfortunately are facing those same battles.</div><div><br></div><div>Some things you might not know:</div><div><br></div><div>Diabetes is the UKs biggest and growing health crisis, 1 in 15 of us is now living with diabetes that's an estimated 5million+ people (an all time high). Around 8% of people diagnosed have type1, 90% have type2 and the remaining 2% is rarer types. Every week diabetes leads to 184 amputations, over 770 strokes, 590 heart attacks and 2300 causes of heart failure.</div><div><br></div><div>Pancreatic Cancer- The 10th most common cancer but the 5th biggest cancer killer in the UK. Early diagnosis is crucial but most people are diagnosed at a late stage (80% of people) and this is one of the biggest issues, more than half of people diagnosed die within 3months. For 9 out of 10 people diagnosed it's too late for surgery the only treatment that can potentially cure the condition. 31% of cases in the UK are preventable. By 2026 more people will die from pancreatic cancer than from breast cancer.</div><div><br></div><div>On the 21st I will lace up my trainers and put one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles and those two amazing women will be at the forefront of my mind as a reminder of how lucky I am to be doing this.</div><div><br></div><div>Thankyou for reading my story and for any help you are able to give x</div><div><br></div>

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Andrea Popham

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London Marathon