Devoted daughter on fundraising mission in memory of her father
Local teacher, Samantha Lawrence, from Allostock will be takin
g on two half marathons to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer Action in memory of her beloved father, Pete.
She will be running the Liverpool Rock and Roll Half Marathon on the 28th May and the English Half Marathon in Warrington on the 17th September.
Samantha, 31, has been motivated to raise vital funds and awareness for the charity after her dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2016. Pete had been experiencing stomach pains that got progressively worse since the end of 2015 but he was misdiagnosed with IBS and later, liver metastases. After further trips to the Doctors it was thought that he had lung cancer but it was later determined that it was in fact pancreatic cancer.
Only 4 weeks after diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, Pete sadly passed away at home on August 18th.
Samantha says “I want to raise some hope for what is so often a hopeless diagnosis. Statistics relating to pancreatic cancer really are your ‘worse case scenario’ and people are sadly more aware of other cancers which can have much more positive outcomes.”
“If running to raise money can stop other families going through what we have, then there is no better reason. My Dad was always my biggest champion and this is the least I can do in his memory.”
Pancreatic cancer is the UK’s 5th biggest cancer killer. The survival rate is just 5% which is the lowest of any cancer.
Pancreatic Cancer Action is committed to working towards earlier diagnosis of the 
disease so that surgery, currently the only cure, is made available to the sufferer. The charity fund research into early diagnosis, provide medical education programmes, and launch awareness campaigns.
Ali Stunt, Founder of Pancreatic Cancer Action, said: “We are so sorry to hear about Pete’s story that is so typical with the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. However, it is so lovely that Samantha is giving up her time to support Pancreatic Cancer Action.”
”We rely solely on donations from the public and thanks to people like Samantha that we can continue our vital work. Please back Samantha in her fundraising efforts so that we can continue research into early diagnosis and raise awareness of pancreatic cancer.”
To sponsor the Samantha please visit her Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/SamLawrence86
