A Tywyn mum is making it her mission to run the London Marathon this month in memory of her 17-year-old daughter who died from a rare form of cancer.

Emma Furneaux, a mum of three, said she lost all motivation after her daughter Elisha passed away in 2016 after being diagnosed with undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma.

While watching the London Marathon last year, Emma thought of her daughter who lost her ability to walk before she died and decided to sign up to run the marathon and raise vital funds for CLIC Sargent, a charity that supported them every step of the way.

Emma said: “There are so many children and young people affected by cancer and I just want to help as many more families to be able to access the support we received.

“Elisha was ill for 26 weeks from diagnosis to her death and so I will be running a mile for every week she was ill and a little bit extra for good measure. I know it’s going to be hard physically but I’m excited.”

Elisha, 17, had been studying an NVQ in childhood studies and working as an apprentice at a nursery when she first started to complain of back pain.

Emma said: “It was in January 2016 that we first noticed something wasn’t right. Elisha was working with young children at the time and so we thought her back pain might have been caused by her bending down to pick up the children.

“We went back and forth to the doctors and they just prescribed painkillers and had no serious concerns which frustrated us. They eventually sent her for an X-ray, however by that point it was too late.

“Before she got the results she collapsed at home as the tumour had broken through her vertebrae and was in her spine.”

What the family thought would be a slipped disc or back injury, turned into a six month hospital stay for Elisha and a shocking cancer diagnosis.

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