Thank you for visiting my JustGiving page! :)

In June 2020, like any other 18-year-old, I was excited to go to university and hopefully see an end to Covid restrictions, when I started getting abdominal pain that grew more and more intense, along with night sweats and weight loss.

After a hospital admission and lots of tests, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

This diagnosis meant I had to delay going to medical school and do six months of chemotherapy. Everything I thought I knew about my life at that point changed and I had so much uncertainty ahead of me. During this challenging time, Teenage Cancer Trust gave me incredible support. Their amazing nurses and resources helped me feel less isolated and ensured my life didn’t stop despite my diagnosis.

I'm grateful and blessed to say that I am now in my fourth year of remission (yay!!)

I've been lucky to work with Teenage Cancer Trust on the AfterThoughts podcast and have helped to review their information for patients. I’m now in my fourth year of medical school, aspiring to be an oncologist because of my own experiences.

Cancer is incredibly difficult, especially for teenagers and young people, and no one should have to go through it alone. When I was diagnosed my nurse said to me ‘you have cancer but it doesn’t have you’ and running this marathon is my way of proving it!

I’m excited to run the London Marathon to fundraise for Teenage Cancer Trust - this is my way of saying thank you for everything they have done for me and to make sure that young people facing cancer today have the support they need.

Anyone who knows me well will know that I do not consider myself sporty in the slightest, so this has been a steep learning curve, but I’m looking forward to building my confidence and doing lots of training to get myself through the 42.2km!

I’m really grateful for all of your support - every donation, no matter the size, brings me closer to my fundraising goal. Thank you so so much for helping me make a difference!

Shaumya :)