Running News Daily

Inspirational Becca Anderson, 28, from Westcliffe Way, who overcame the odds to beat leukemia nine years ago is raising money for the charity that saved her life

Becca Anderson will run the Great North Run this year, in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust, the blood cancer charity which helped her get a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

The trust matches individuals who are willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow, with people in need of life-saving transplants. Just as Becca was nine years ago.

In May 2010, at just 18 years-old, Becca was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Her only chances of survival were three rounds of intense chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant.

None of her family were a match, but after three months of searching, the Anthony Nolan Trust was able to find her a donor, and on December 3, 2010, she received her transplant. Becca was given the all clear from cancer six months later.

“It’s a slow process, it takes about a year to fully recover, but you are constantly living in fear,” said Becca who was nominated for Role Model of the Year in the Pride of South Tyneside Awards 2011.

“You have got to build up your immune system from nothing. It’s only been in the last two or three years I have thought, ‘I can start living a life and taking advantage of these years I’ve been given’.”

Now she is celebrating nine years of being cancer-free, by showing her appreciation for the charity that saved her life, and offering her support for those still waiting for a match.

She is aiming to raise £1 for each day of her life she has got back following her transplant, bringing the total amount to £3,201 by the day of the half marathon on September 8, 2019.