A woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer immediately turned to her mother for support.
Kate Wyatt knew that mum Sheila, a former nurse, would be there for her every step of the way.
But then the family received another devastating blow when Sheila, 76, was also diagnosed with cancer - and hers was aggressive and incurable.
Kate, 44, from Pulborough, said: “Mum was told she had secondary cancer in her brain. Further investigations were carried out to find the primary site and it turned out she had lung cancer.
“There was nothing they could really do for her, apart from making her comfortable. Mum declined all treatment and just wanted to go home.
“So, we arranged that for her and I stopped working to care for her, along with my son Josh, and her friend Sylvia Enticknap. Mum died three weeks later.”
The family were devastated at such a shocking and sudden loss but immediately took positive action by signing up for Cancer Research UK’s Race For Life in her name and raised £1,000.
A year later, Team Kate are gearing up to take part again. They will be doing so in Horsham, where Sheila lived, accompanied by dachshund Selly.
Kate said: “Mum bought Selly for us and she has been amazing, a massive rock.
“She never leaves my side. She’s like a bit of Mum looking out for me. She knows when there’s something not right.”
Kate is currently undergoing treatment for stage three breast cancer following a mastectomy, two years of chemotherapy, and 15 days of radiotherapy.
She has been looked after by St Martha’s Oncology Centre at Mount Alverina Hospital in Guildford.
Kate’s family own Woodfalls Stud at Rudgwick, now run by Josh, and until recently they also ran the Anchorage Care Home in Pulborough. Kate remains closely involved in both.
She said: “The chemo, on top of losing mum was tough. But I carried on working as if I stopped it would have been ten times worse.
“The hardest part was the radiotherapy because it burnt my skin. It was pretty horrendous. But I’m through that now and I’m doing OK.”
Team Kate, consisting of Kate, her partner Andy Bell, daughter Daisy and Daisy's best friend Freya Clayton, cousin Kelly Bailey-Smith and her children Abigail and William plus Selly will run the Horsham Race For Life on Sunday.
The team have so far raised £1,200 for Cancer Research UK.
People of all ages and abilities are welcome to take part in Race For Life in Horsham and at other events around Sussex, including Brighton, Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne and Hastings. Mums, dads, sons, daughters, grandparents and friends can choose from a 5k or 10k, or in the afternoon take part in Pretty Muddy which is a 5k.
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