Mother’s cancer diagnosis inspires woman’s 268km run

Mother’s cancer diagnosis inspires woman’s 268km run

Former Jersey College for Girls student Kesia Myers (20) is now trying to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK and awareness of the disease, which affects about one in 20 people in the Island in their lifetime.

Miss Myers has pledged to run 268km in four months – a metre for everyone living in the UK who currently has or has had the disease. She has so far run almost 190km and raised more than £1,600. Her mother, Treena Myers, a detective with the States police, was diagnosed with a stage-four tumour in her colon which had spread to her abdomen and right kidney. After an operation to remove the tumour in Southampton in November, Mrs Myers had a her last round of chemotherapy yesterday.

Miss Myers, who is due to begin a career with the States police herself next month, lost her cousin Paul Hyams to bowel cancer in 2016 and said her mother’s diagnosis had a huge impact on her, sister Talia (23) and father Marc (55).

‘I can’t even describe how any of us felt when we received the news,’ the St Clement parishioner said.

‘We were all in complete and utter shock, and a lot of tears were shed. My mum is a very proactive and bubbly person, so to see her turn into someone who couldn’t even move without being in pain was awful. During her first set of chemotherapy, on the fifth round, my mum’s bowel completely shut off and she ended up in A&E with an emergency ileostomy which was mentally and physically one of the hardest challenges my mum had faced throughout the illness.’

She added: ‘I want to raise awareness of this charity because I think there is a real taboo around bowel problems, and people get embarrassed visiting their GP when they have no reason to be. In my mum’s case, she had no typical symptoms, so we were lucky to find the tumour when we did.’

Miss Myers, who currently works as an administrator for Spoor & Fisher, said she is not a natural runner, which was part of the appeal in taking up the Bowel Cancer UK challenge which is encouraging people across the British Isles to run, jog or walk, 16km, 42km or 268km before 30 April. She takes part in the 5km parkrun regularly at Les Quennevais to clock up the distance and her longest single run to date is 12km.

‘If I had a message for people it would be to seek help if it is needed, and don’t be stubborn about accepting it,’ she said. ‘My mum is very independent and struggled to ask for help when she really needed it, which ultimately put her life in danger when her bowels stopped working. It’s OK not to be OK in these situations. It has a massive mental effect on everyone who is close to the person who has been diagnosed and it’s important to talk and be as positive as you can be.’

To find out more about Miss Myer’s challenge or to donate visit challenge2020.everydayhero.com/uk/kes-page.

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