Stafford woman with breast cancer completes Everest Marathon
An army veteran successfully completed the world's highest marathon to raise awareness of breast cancer following her own diagnosis.Sally Orange, from Stafford, took part in the Everest Marathon in Nepal while dressed as a lime, on 29 May.The race was the latest challenge for the adventure athlete, who has ran marathons in each continent to raise awareness of mental health, while dressed up as fruits and vegetables."That was my 87th marathon, but it was the first marathon that I'd ever cried at the end of," she said. Ms Orange found a lump earlier this year and was later told it was breast cancer and she would need surgery.
Her last two marathons, Everest and the London Marathon, have had extra significance following her diagnosis, she said."I did the marathon in Nepal in Everest with a chest infection and that did make it incredibly tough and I think for the very first time, I actually felt like I'd got cancer while I was doing that marathon," she said.
Speaking about her cancer had also opened up other conversations with people who had also been diagnosed or who had family members with the disease.She encouraged other people to get any abnormal "lumps and bumps" checked."I've had four women who've contacted me and said because of my post and because of me being open, and talking about it, they thought maybe they should check themselves and they also found lumps," she said."I didn't have any symptoms and I think that's the the thing, when you can prove that you can still do things and how important that is to continue with life."Ms Orange, who has also finished eight Ironman challenges in the past to help break the stigma around mental health, has previously received an MBE for her efforts.She claims to be the only person in the world who has ran a marathon on every continent dressed as a different piece of fruit."When you're one of 32,000 people running as a piece of fruit, people often ask you why," she said."First of all, I say why not. Then actually I say because i'm raising awareness of mental health and that's starts the conversation."
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