Nicky puts her best foot forward for Prospect Hospice

The cancer survivor from North Swindon is putting her best foot forward for the facility which cared for her when she left hospital following her treatment.

“In 2009 I had breast cancer and I went to Hell and back really. There were times that I didn’t even think I was going to make it,” she said.

“To actually come through cancer and survive is a big thing. But because you are seen smiling and happy, people forget what you have actually been through.”

She explained: “It was just a lump to start off with and I didn’t know what it was.”

Within a week she was in hospital for a biopsy. But then she had to wait for the results. It was agonising. “It was two weeks and it was the longest two weeks of my life.”

The result was the last thing she wanted to hear and it was a shock. “I had a young family and I was still at work so I had to tell them about it.”

Treatment followed and it was not without complications. When she was finally discharged from hospital she was suffering from lymphedema so was admitted to the hospice for more care until she was fit enough to go home.

Now Nicky is keen to support the hospice that relies on public support the raise the bulk of the £7.2 million a year it needs to run. “A few years ago she was one of a group of volunteers who abseiled off the Jury’s Inn hotel.

If there is anything that I think I can do, then obviously I’ll try and do my best.”

“I’m not a fit person,” she said. “I love walking but I don’t know about 15 kilometres. I hope I do well.”

The walk, which is being staged on June 25, raised £50,000 for the hospice last year. Opened in 1980, the hospice is the only dedicated end of life care facility for 300,000 people living in the Swindon and North Wiltshire area.

Entrants can choose either the 10km or the 15km routes around Old Town, Wroughton and Wichelstowe.

Visit prospect-hospice.net to register.