Catherine and her family’s lives were turned upside down when she received a diagnosis of cancer of the mouth. After fighting this cancer twice and receiving life-saving treatment, Catherine is halfway through her incredible fundraising challenge of embarking on two 10k walks to give back, for the “phenomenal” care she received.
After Catherine was diagnosed with cancer in January 2020, she underwent surgery to remove half of her tongue, as well as a left neck dissection to remove her lymph nodes. In September 2020, she was given the devastating news that the cancer had returned, which resulted in a right side neck dissection and the removal of her jugular vein. This was followed by six weeks of intensive chemotherapy and thirty sessions of radiotherapy.
Now Catherine feels it’s time to give back, by challenging herself to complete, not one, but two, 10k walks, raising money for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. On Sunday 26th September Catherine and supporters successfully completed their first walk in Birmingham. But her fundraising challenge doesn’t stop there as on Sunday 24th October Catherine will be in Liverpool for her next 10k.
“My cancer journey was a real shock for me, my family, my friends, everyone – it really hit people hard because it was so unexpected.
“You can say thank you as much as possible, but I wanted to do something that would actually help, something that would help other people in the situation I was in. By giving this area a bit of money they can do things like research, and build awareness of this type of cancer and hopefully start preventing it a little bit more.”
Catherine praised her care throughout this difficult journey saying, “The whole way through, everyone I saw, from day one, were absolutely phenomenal.”
By challenging herself to complete two 10k walks, Catherine is currently raising money for FAITEC which will “help people like me, who have dealt the effects of having head and neck/oral cancer, as well as doing vast amounts of research and trials to help prevent this horrific disease.”
Catherine shared that these 10k walks were “the first thing that came to mind. During the pandemic, after my surgery, the one way I was able to rebuild my strength after surgery was walking, so it was completely natural thing for me to think of, I can walk now…but, 10k will still be a challenge considering what my body has been through. I didn’t want it to be easy. It can’t be easy. It shouldn’t be easy. Because cancer is not easy.”
Catherine hopes to see you in Liverpool in October! To support Catherine and donate to this incredible cause, then you can do so here – Catherine Cahill is fundraising for Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity (justgiving.com).
