Walkers raise £40,000 to help fund cancer research

FRIENDS and family of a woman who had pancreatic cancer have raised £40,000 to fight the disease.

Kate Wylie, 66, from Fawley, was diagnosed with it two years ago, and completed the Thames Bridges Trek, a 25km-long walk in aid of Pancreatic Cancer UK on Saturday, September 14.

She was joined on the walk by her husband Roger, sister Sarah, and two of her three adult children, Tom and Anna, as well as a number of friends to raise funds for the charity she said had supported her through her treatment.

The family, who first moved to Henley in 1986 and later to Fawley in 2007, described the support they had received from friends, family and the local community as “amazing”.

Mrs Wylie said she was initially unsure that she would be able to complete the route which starts at Putney Bridge and zig-zags over 16 historic bridges along the River Thames before finishing in Southwalk Park, after crossing Tower Bridge.

Mrs Wylie said: “I didn’t think I would be able to do it because I was the one with pancreatic cancer but we got to the 10km mark and I decided to keep going and I was with great company as well.

“We are thrilled we have been able to raise that much. I think we were aiming for about £20. Even when we were walking, the kids are so good with social media and were getting donations through that.”

Mr Wylie said: “I think we were initially quite nervous about the distance because none of us had ever walked that far but it was very enjoyable.

“We were blessed with having lovely weather and London looked beautiful. We had a bit of a celebration at the end.”

Mr Wylie, 67, said the group had been stopped by a passersby who spotted their purple T-shirts, the colour of the charity, along the walk.

He said: “We were stopped on the walk by people who said ‘Oh you are walking for Pancreatic Cancer, I had a relative who died of it’.

“It is a really awful disease and when Kate was first diagnosed it was horrific news but she has come a long way since then.

“When you are first faced with something like this we were obviously researching it and we use the Pancreatic Cancer UK website as a resource. You start to realise how much a charity like this can help.”

Mrs Wylie said that she hoped her challenge would help increase the profile of the disease, which is the 10th most common cancer and the fifth biggest cancer killer.

About 10,500 people are diagnosed with it in the UK each year. Half of pancreatic cancer patients die in the first three months and 70 per cent in the first year.

Mrs Wylie said she wanted more people to be aware of the symptoms of the disease. She wants people to keep an eye on any digestive problems they may have including loss of appetite, indigestion or weight loss, which can be early indicators.

She said: “Raising awareness is so important because the symptoms are so insidious. There’s tiredness and back pain and things that those who are over 60 think are normal.

“I was lucky as I had some of the more obvious symptoms. I started getting jaundice and I had pale stools and I went straight to the doctor and got seen easily.

“I was also tired but I just thought it was being old. The other thing that’s is quite common but I didn’t have badly is itching. Mine wasn’t very significant.”

Mrs Wylie said she had been cheered up midway through her treatment by the birth of her three granddaughters, born separately to each of her three children.

She said: “That was lovely. It was hectic but of course, it cheered everyone up. I also have young grandsons and having young people around really helps.”

After 18 months of treatment including chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a Whipple procedure, an eight-hour operation to remove pancreatic tumours, she is now cancer-free.

Mrs Wylie said she was very lucky to be able to undergo surgical treatment, an option open to only 10 per cent of all pancreatic cancer patients.

Mrs Wylie said: “The doctors here have been fantastic and have supported all the treatment I have had in London. They have been very very diligent, I can’t fault them.

“I’m feeling great at the moment, they would say I’m cancer-free. I’m back to normal now so long may it continue but am having scans every three months to be sure.”

Mrs Wylie said that for a lot of pancreatic cancer patients getting a diagnosis can be overwhelming but she had felt supported by the charity she was now hoping to give back to.

She said: “I have been so lucky with the people around me and I think that has really helped me. Because for about 18 months I couldn’t do anything and of course, you wonder about your own mortality.

“I was told very early on not to google too much because it can be a lot. My doctor recommended the Pancreatic Cancer UK website because it’s well-researched and supported by medics. I had digestive problems, and they supported me with that. They provide support as well as research.”

Mrs Wylie said that she had been supported by other people in the local area who had the disease and would like to widen the conversation about the disease.

She said: “I am happy to talk to people who have gone through it. You can sometimes feel a bit isolated. When you hear about pancreatic cancer it’s a bit of a doomsday and people worry about talking about it, but I think actually it’s really helpful.”

To donate, visit www.just
giving.com/page/roger-wylie-17223
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