Warrington student inspired by her friend's 'incredible' cancer fight

Louisa Cuddy is fundraising for CLIC Sargent, the charity that supported her friend Rachel Bennion throughout her illness and treatment after she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma blood cancer at just 19-years-old.

The Paddington student wanted to ensure that the charity could continue to do the same for other young individuals with the help of her fundraising.

Louisa, 21, chose to take on the challenge of the London marathon because her and Rachel used to run together at Warrington Athletics club, so a running fundraiser felt appropriate.

Louisa said: ‘‘I’m fundraising because Rachel was diagnosed with cancer at such a young age and was so strong throughout the whole process; I wanted to do something that sort of paid tribute to how incredible she has been throughout.’’

Louisa and Rachel

The fundraising target was £2,000, which has recently been surpassed. However, Louisa hopes to raise even more funds to provide CLIC Sargent with the support it needs.

Louisa added: ‘‘The support I have had so far has been insane, when I first posted about the marathon on social media, I received £800 in just 8 hours.

• READ MORE > These groups have been invited to book for a Covid jab

‘‘I am so thankful for all the support received so far, and everyone who has not only donated but also trained with me and given me that push when needed.’’

CLIC Sargent is a charity that supports young people from their cancer diagnosis onwards and aims to help the whole family deal with the impact of cancer and its treatment, life after treatment, and in some cases, bereavement.

The charity also undertakes research into the impact of cancer on children and young people.

Louisa and Rachel

Rachel, a 21-year old university student from Appleton, said: ‘‘I feel like the CLIC Sargent charity is so important – when being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, like cancer, it is really difficult to know what to do because you physically can’t really do a lot to help yourself… in my case anyway.

‘‘I found it difficult to comprehend how to live a normal life, but CLIC Sargent were there straight away; from emotional support, to petrol money after having to move home from university, a free real-hair wig, lots of support groups or different centres for me to have my treatment with people of my own age.

‘‘It was kind of like having a miracle where someone came and sorted out everything around you so you could just focus on getting better!

‘‘People like Louisa who keep charities like CLIC Sargent open are changing the lives of so many people every day.

‘‘It makes me so happy to think that all of her efforts are going to help another young person to get through something similar.’’

Rachel completed her treatment on August 30, 2019.

The marathon is set to go ahead on October 3 after multiple postponements due to the pandemic.

The vest

To follow Louisa’s progress or donate you can visit her fundraising page by clicking here

To find out more about CLIC Sargent you can visit here

To find out more about Rachel’s story you can visit her blog here