Melissa Sutton to start Race for Life in Heaton Park

Melissa Sutton to start Race for Life in Heaton Park

Melissa Sutton, who overcame cancer and documented her journey in a blog to help other teenagers, will be special guest at Race for Life Heaton Park on Sunday 17 July a 5k and 10k sponsored event to raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

Melissa, 17, of Whitworth, will be invited on stage at the start of the event to talk about her treatment for Ewing Sarcoma which saw her have four ribs removed as well as chemotherapy and 30 sessions of radiotherapy.

Melissa, who has now been told she is cancer free, will also start the sounding horn to set participants on their 5k or 10k race before joining the runners on the 5k course.

Having been diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in October 2014, Melissa finished her treatment in September last year (2015) and now wants to help cancer charities and raise awareness about how cancer can affect teenagers, as well as moving forward with her life and training for a career as a special effects make-up artist in the film industry.

Melissa, who has one brother and four sisters, said: “Since getting the all clear I’ve been building my fitness back up so the Race for Life 5k has been something to aim for. I’m excited about setting the runners off and going on stage. I hope my story will help inspire people to take part and raise funds for more research so that there can be more cures and kinder treatments.

“Going through cancer has been very tough but it’s been an experience that I will always remember and which will make me look at life with a different perspective.

“They told my mum I had cancer while I was asleep. Then when I woke up my mum told me with a consultant. The first thing I thought about was losing my hair but when it came to it I wasn’t actually that bothered. At the start I wore my wig for school but after a while I stopped doing – even for my prom – and my little sister once mistook me for a bald man in the supermarket. I’ve just had to laugh about some parts and I think the main thing for me was to keep positive.

“I found the intensive phase of my chemotherapy the hardest – it made me feel really awful. I got through it by watching a lot of box sets. You just have to learn to look forwards.”

Melissa, who was a pupil at Whitworth High School when she was first diagnosed with cancer, is now studying Media Make-Up at Oldham College and has a job at the Eagle and Child Pub in Ramsbottom.

She said: “I’m just enjoying getting back to college. I want to work on film sets in the future specialising in special effects make up.”

Melissa’s story hit the headlines last year when she was diagnosed with cancer after experiencing pains in her chest and swelling on her left side for four months – which was initially put down to muscle pain and saw her prescribed painkillers.

She eventually went to Rochdale Infirmary in agony where a chest x-ray found out she had a partially collapsed lung. After a chest drain and a biopsy doctors discovered she had Ewing Sarcoma. Melissa was treated with six rounds of intensive chemotherapy at Manchester Royal Infirmary, followed by radiotherapy and a further eight chemotherapy sessions. She also had to have four of her ribs removed because the cancer had spread to her bone.

Melissa will join thousands of ladies and girls taking part in Race for Life 5k, 10k and a Pretty Muddy 5k obstacle course at Heaton Park, in Prestwich, this year – many of them who have been touched by cancer either going through treatment themselves or seeing a loved-one go through the disease.

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring women-only series of 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Marathon events which raises millions of pounds every year to help fund life-saving research.

Alison Barbuti, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Greater Manchester, said: “We are very grateful to Melissa for helping us to raise awareness about her experience of cancer.

“Every day, around 110 people are diagnosed with cancer in the North West. That’s why we need women of all shapes and sizes to pull on their leggings, lace up their trainers and show their support.

“Race for Life events are not competitive. They are not about being fit or fast. Taking part is about being part of a collective force of powerful women - of all ages - leading the charge against cancer. We always get a fantastic response at Heaton Park and we are hoping it is a great day.”

Money raised through Race for Life allows Cancer Research UK’s doctors, nurses and scientists to advance research which is helping to save the lives of men, women and children across the North West and the UK.

To enter Race for Life today visit www.raceforlife.org or call 0300 123 0770.