Page 47 - Corby Trader May 2019

‘I’LL USE MY HEARTBREAK TO HELP OTHERS’

CORBY’S Michelle Sheriff lost her “I couldn’t have got through
dad to cancer and her unborn child the events this year without
within six weeks of each other but them,” said Michelle. “Race
she says she’s determined to use for Life was always just fun for
her heartbreak to help others. me; now it’s got a whole other
Michelle has signed up to volunteer meaning.
at Corby’s Race for Life event on “Cancer hadn’t affected me until what
19th May. She is also taking part happened to my dad; I took things for granted.
in this year’s Bedford Pretty Muddy I’m turning my grief to something positive and getting out there to
event on the 22nd June – a date which has extra special meaning for her. fundraise and share my story, just in case it helps others - even one
It was her expected due date. person.”
The 28-year-old was eleven weeks’ pregnant with her second child when Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an
her dad, Peter Kingsnorth, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. inspiring series of 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events
She then went for her 12-week scan and found out that her baby had died which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding
at six weeks. crucial research.
Michelle, 28, from Little Stanion, said: “Within the space of a week at the This year, for the first time, Cancer Research UK is inviting everyone in the
same hospital - Kettering General - I’d been told my dad had days to live area – women, men and children - to join the Race for Life.
and that my baby had no heartbeat. Events are taking part across the county. In Corby – there is a 5k and 10k
“I went from the maternity ward to my dad’s ward to tell him the bad Race for Life at West Glebe Park on 19th May.
news. We cried together and he held my hand. I lost my baby on the 7th In Northampton, the Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids event will be
of December and my dad six weeks later. I never thought I’d be the person held on Saturday 22nd June at Abington Park, while the 5k and 10k Race
going through something like this.” for Life events take place at the same venue on the following day.
But Michelle, who is mum to Harper, aged 4, says she is determined to There are also events nearby in Bedford and Milton Keynes.
turn the devastating events into something positive by supporting Race To sign up online, visit: raceforlife.org
for Life and fundraising for vital research. She’s calling on local people to The money raised at events like Race for Life supports life-saving research.
follow her lead and raise money for Cancer Research UK. Thanks to everyone who raises money at events like Race for Life, Cancer
She hopes by sharing her story she will encourage others to join one of the Research UK is able to fund research to fight 200 types of cancer.
Race for Life taking place in Northamptonshire this summer. The good news is more people are surviving the disease than ever before.
Michelle said: “It’s going to be a very difficult day for me. I’ve done Pretty Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer
Muddy every year for the past five years but, until now, I’ve never had Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.
anyone to do it for. I never thought I’d have a name on my t-shirt and To enter Race for Life today visit raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.
never thought it would be my dad. When I cross the finishing line, it will
be overwhelming.”
Peter was 68 when he died. A former staff sergeant in the Royal
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, he’d been shot at several
times during his postings in Belfast and Germany and had been
medically retired.
He’d also survived numerous heart attacks and two triple heart
bypasses and received pioneering surgery at Papworth Hospital,
featuring in a Sky News documentary and on ITV News.
Doctors initially thought his breathlessness in November was
connected to his heart problems. But a blood test revealed he
had leukaemia and he was too poorly to undergo chemotherapy.
Michelle said: “After everything he went through - getting shot
and surviving numerous heart attacks - it was cancer that finally
took him.”
Michelle is taking part with her friends Nina and Kirsty, who
are running in memory of their nan and cousin who are cancer
survivors. They are all volunteering as helpers at their local Race
for Life event in Corby too.

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