A GRAYS runner who credits her survival of breast cancer to a sports bra and research into the disease is calling on women, men and children across the region to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life.
Sandra Greene, 54, was doing a training run towards the end of spring last year when her bra became uncomfortable and started rubbing her chest. Upon checking the cause, she found a bumpy vein on her left breast that would later be confirmed as breast cancer.
Having now overcome the disease, Sandra is looking forward to the future and the opportunity to encourage people to support Cancer Research UK, including by signing up to take part in Race for Life at raceforlife.org.* Anyone who joins between Monday, 4 April and Monday, 18 April can claim 30% off the entry fee, as part of a special sale, by using the code EASTER30.
Every year around 37,300 people are diagnosed with cancer in the East of England** and 1 in 2 people in the UK born after 1960 will get cancer in their lifetime.*** Money raised by Race for Life enables scientists to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer - helping to save more lives.
Sandra is among those to have taken part in Basildon Race for Life. She said: “My experience of Race for Life is it’s very high energy and I think the important thing to get across is you don’t have to be somebody who can run 5k or whatever the distance is – there are probably more people just walking or jogging round than there are running.
“There are all ages and all abilities, and they have pictures of and messages for people they have lost or are running for on their T-shirts, so it’s very uplifting.
“It’s clear everybody is there for their own personal reasons, but for a common goal.”
Sandra has raised £3,000 to £4,000 by doing Cancer Research UK running events and was training for another when she discovered her bumpy vein.
“I was really getting into my training when I realised that my bra was rubbing my chest. It was a sports bra that I’d worn on many occasions and had always been comfortable, but, suddenly, it just felt wrong.”
When Sandra returned home, she immediately checked her breast and felt a bump.
“It wasn’t a round lump. It felt more like a bumpy vein, so I wasn’t too concerned, but given my family history I decided to book an appointment with my GP.”
Sandra’s first run for Cancer Research UK was the Basildon Race for Life after her mother-in-law, Cathy Greene, also from Grays, was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2015.
Cathy sadly died three months later, at just two years older than Sandra is now.
Also in 2015, Sandra’s two sisters, Susan Hayward and Sharon Delmont, found out they had breast cancer within three months of each other. Both were cleared of the disease last year.
A cousin is recovering from chemotherapy for breast cancer, whilst an aunt was recently told she had secondary breast cancer.
Sandra’s father, David Brough, is living with prostate cancer at the age of 87, having been diagnosed nine years ago.
With all this experience of cancer in the family, particularly what Susan and Sharon had been through, Sandra was not immediately phased by her diagnosis.
However, a further MRI scan revealed Sandra had multifocal lobular breast cancer – two tumours, with the second tumour not picked up on mammogram or ultrasound.
“That’s when I started to get really concerned. This was a different diagnosis to my sisters and I just didn’t know what I was dealing with. I started to panic, but my husband was brilliant, reassuring me I would come through this.”
Following a mastectomy and immediate reconstruction in October, Sandra was told she would not need chemotherapy, nor radiotherapy as the affected breast tissue had been removed. Instead, she was placed on hormone therapy for seven years.
Sandra, an ombudsman, who lives in Blackshots Lane, with husband Neil and youngest son Callum, 16, is now looking ahead with positivity.
She continued: “Thanks to research I didn’t need to have chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
“Now, I feel so grateful to be here and I’m looking forward to the future. We’re hoping to go to America this year to visit my eldest son, Bradley, who’s there on a football scholarship, and hopefully meet up with so many people we couldn’t meet during lockdowns. And, of course, I’m looking forward to taking part in lots more running challenges.
“It could have been a very different story if I hadn’t paid attention to my bra rubbing against my skin. Thank goodness I checked as my cancer was caught early. That sports bra saved my life!”
Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring series of 3k, 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events that raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research.
There are events happening at Basildon’s Gloucester Park on 19 June, Brentwood’s Weald Country Park on 21 May, Chelmsford’s Hylands Park on 17 July, Epping’s North Weald Airfield on 6 July and Southend’s Garon Park on 15 May, open to women, men and children of all ages and abilities.
Michael Jarvis, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson in the East of England, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Sandra for sharing her and her family’s cancer story to support us in encouraging people to sign up for Race for Life.
“Sadly, cancer affects all of us in some way. Whether people are living with cancer, taking part in honour of or in memory of a loved one with cancer, or signing up to protect their own children’s future, everyone has a reason to Race for Life. So, we’re asking people across the region: Who will you Race for?”
Rhianna Haywood, Race for Life spokesperson in Essex, added: “Our Race for Life events are open to all and spring, with our Easter-related sale, is an ideal time to commit to getting a little more active. As Sandra reflected, for some people, the Race for Life is literally a walk in the park – slow and steady still wins. For others, it’s a jog. Others may opt to push themselves harder, taking up the challenge of the 10K distance and even pushing for a new personal best time.
“But what is for certain is we’re looking forward to welcoming people of all ages and abilities. Race for Life across Essex will be fun, emotional, colourful, uplifting and an unforgettable series of events this year.”
Race for Life events across the UK this year will follow current government guidance to protect against COVID-19. Hand sanitiser will be provided at all events.
Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, raises funds for world class research to help beat 200 types of cancer, including bowel cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, testicular cancer, brain cancer, children’s cancers and leukaemia.
Oonagh Turnbull, head of health campaigns at Tesco, said: “This will be our 21st year in partnership with Cancer Research UK and Race for Life, and we hope this year can be the biggest yet.”
To enter visit raceforlife.org.
