MOYA Brannan’s life was turned upside down when discovered she had breast cancer.

But in the face of anaesthetic fatigue, and operations that have literally taken lumps out of her, she is finding the energy to walk 100km in support of fellow cancer patients in Wiltshire.

The mother of two from Avebury will march along the length of the Ridgeway over the course of two days to raise money for the Brighter Futures Radiotherapy Appeal. The journey will see her follow in the footsteps of the Vikings as she makes her way from the Chilterns to the North Wessex Downs, passing iron age forts and picturesque landscapes before ending up in a field near her home.

Moya said: “It was just a shock being told I had cancer, it’s like being in a bit of a funny reality, you kind of don’t believe it. Sometimes it doesn’t seem very real.

“When the race starts I’m either going to be having chemo or radiotherapy treatment because it’s on the 14th and 15th of July. It’s pretty crushing being told you have cancer but I’m trying to make something good out of it. It’s an important thing to keep positive and keep yourself moving forward.”

The Avebury woman has managed to raise £2000 with the help of her IBM colleagues, more than double what she set out to achieve when she started. She will hope previous experience of running the course in a single day will help her take on the tougher challenge of running during recovery.

Brighter Futures is on track to reaching its £2.9 million fundraising target this year. When it does, Swindon will be graced with a brand new radiotherapy unit, allowing the Great Western Hospital to treat around 700 cancer patients a year. This will spare them daily journeys to and from Churchill Hospital in Oxford during radiotherapy treatment which can last four weeks.

Moya added: “When you read other people’s stories you realise just how complicated their journeys are when they’re trying to get treatment going to adjacent counties. You just think, ‘oh my God, I’m quite fortunate I’ve got people who can give me a lift’. If I were self-employed or didn’t have a car that journey would be horrendous.

“For someone who’s going through all that trauma, who’s cancer might not have as good a prognosis as mine does, they’re probably exhausted and fed up with it and thinking, ‘why’s the world got it in for me?’ I felt compelled to do something about it.

The fundraiser told the Adver she was looking forward to the event: “When you go and do these long runs, you end up running with a lot of people who are doing it for charity so they’re quite sociable and uplifting. It’s got a really nice vibe about it."

Anyone who wishes to support Moya can make a donation on her fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/moyabrannan