A PORTSKEWETT woman’s battle with cancer has driven her to finish 52 events in 52 weeks finishing with the London marathon, all to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Lauryn Bentham was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2010, since then she has had 17 excisions to remove cancerous tissue, the last being three months ago.

Ironically it was actually sunburn which saved Ms Bentham, after getting badly burnt one day she saw a doctor who was more concerned with a mole she had than the sunburn.

The concern was well-founded and cancer was detected, thankfully early on.

She said: “It was caught really early on thankfully so it’s never been chemo or anything like that, it has just been literally chopping bits out of me.

“At first it was scary, the big ‘c’ word is a scary thing. I was 26 when it first happened. And people don’t realise that skin cancer is one of the most quickest spreading, deadliest forms of cancer you can get. If you don’t catch it its serious.

“But seven years on and some great staff from Scarborough hospital, from Newcastle, from the Gwent, and Cardiff have all been amazing.”

Through the whole process, the nurses from Macmillan Cancer Support have been there to provide support and it is for that reason she is pushing her body to the limit.

Ms Bentham said: “I just wanted to do something for the Macmillan nurses that have helped me up and down the country over the last seven years.

“If I am going to be doing 52 events in a year, running my bum off every single week, I wanted it to be relevant to me and something that is going to keep me going.”

Ms Bentham has already completed more than 40 events, these range from 10km runs to half marathons and a number of rowing events.

She has been trying to complete events she enjoys, which has taken her up and down the country and even over to France and while it’s never easy, she has plenty of motivation.

The challenge has brought with it many highlights so far, Ms Bentham picked out the ‘Fan Dance’ up Pen y Fan, and the MAVERICK inov-8 run at Powys which left her breathless in more ways than one.

She said: “The Powys edition was absolutely stunning. I think it was the hardest thing I have ever done.

“I had to just stop and take it all in. It’s one of those moments in life when you think how privileged am I to be still here, and healthy to a certain extent and to be able to get to the top of there and look out.”

It is an opportunity that so many touched by cancer do not get, Ms Bentham’s own battle with cancer is not her only connection to the disease, she lost a young family member to a brain tumour and in addition to other friends who have felt its effect.

“The more I do this the more I speak to people, everybody knows somebody and what’s scary that everybody knows somebody who is close.”

“I didn’t quite realise how close to every family it is and then reading the statistics on the Macmillan website, one is that by 2020 one in two people are going to be affected directly by cancer.”

That is why Ms Bentham is also raising awareness about skin cancer as she fundraises, she said: “You just need to know your body and check your body. Don’t just think it’s just a mole because that mole could be something that can end up killing you.”

Ms Bentham will be finishing her challenge at the Virgin Money London Marathon in April 2018 but is trying to raise as much money as possible in the mean time.

She said: “Hopefully people will donate, even if they just don’t have that one cup of coffee that day, just £2, and donate that. If everyone does just one bit, it will have a huge effect on the bigger picture.”

To donate or to track the process of Ms Bentham’s challenge visit  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Yourmoneymypain