Mum takes on muddy mayhem for charity

DOING it for Kate . . . Lucy Connell

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CARGO nets and mud pits won't stop a mum of two from Oldham from completing her fundraising mission for Cancer Research UK on Saturday in memory of her cousin.

Lucy Connell will take on the charity's 5K Pretty Muddy event at Heaton Park after losing her cousin and best friend Kate Connell to cancer in May 2014.

Kate, who lived in Halifax, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and had been given the all clear after her treatment.

Sadly, the cancer later returned and, despite further chemotherapy treatment, the disease eventually spread to her brain and became terminal.

Since then Lucy has done Race for Life 5k with her children Oliver (5) and Lily (2) in tribute to Kate.

Lucy, of Salem Grove, said: "I didn't really see Kate when I was younger but we made contact through Facebook as adults and really hit it off.

"It was like I suddenly had someone who completely understood me and got me.

"I felt really lucky to have found her as a friend. We'd visit each other regularly and we'd talk for hours on the phone andon Facebook."

The pair used to text all the time however when the texts stop coming, Lucy knew there was something wrong.

Lucy (27) added: "At first she hid it a bit but then she had to tell me her cancer was terminal when they'd found two tumours in her brain. She took it hard.

"I was pregnant with Lily at the same time and I decided to give Lily the middle name Kate in her honour."

Kate, who was aged only 37 when she died, then drew up a bucket list with her fiancé Jonathan which including going to New York to feed lions and tigers.

Lucy added: "She looked at what she could do to stay positive and it meant she had lots to talk about. She kept her sense of humour and used that to deal with her cancer too."

Just a few months after Kate's death, Lucy took part in the Race for Life with a group of mum friends she had met online, each pushing their children in buggies, before being joined by her mum and children for last year's event.

Lucy said: "I plan to make it an annual event for us to remember her. Kate was more than a cousin she was one of my best friends and is still sorely missed now."

Cancer Research UK's Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is a women-only series of 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Marathon events which raises millions of pounds every year to help fund life-saving research.