A young woman lost both her parents within the space of two years - only to then be diagnosed with cancer herself.

Leeanne Cheng attended Saturday’s Pretty Muddy Race for Life event to cheer on two teams tackling the obstacle course in her honour.

The 33-year-old, of Silloth, was diagnosed with cervical cancer shortly after losing her mum to a rare form of the disease in her uterus and soft tissues early in 2015.

Just one year before they had to say goodbye to their mum, she and her sister lost their dad to a cardiac arrest.

Miss Cheng, who has undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is now awaiting surgery, said: “Nothing compares to losing your parents - that was, by far, a million times worse than a cancer diagnosis. But it doesn’t matter how old you are, when you’re poorly, you only ever want your mum and dad.

“To get poorly when I’d just lost the two people I needed the most, that they weren’t there, was hard.
"Also, the fact that my mum had been fighting cancer - I’d looked after, I’d watched her deteriorate and was with her when she died - to watch her go through that and then to be told that I had to face the same thing, it was daunting.”

One major source of support for Miss Cheng has been 36-year-old sister, Claire, who said: “It’s been a really rough couple of years. It’s just the two of us now, and I’m so proud of her.

“Every hurdle that’s been thrown at us, she’s always been, ‘Just hit me with the next’. She’s a real fighter.”

On Saturday, Miss Cheng watched as her childhood friends, led by her sister, battled their way around the giant 5k obstacle course. Her boyfriend’s daughters and their friends also made their way around in her name.

She said: “It’s amazing. You always know, in the back of your mind, that people are there to support you but when they come out and so something like this for you, it’s just overwhelming.”


An energetic mum took on back-to-back runs so her little girl could take part in a third 5k race in memory of her beloved grandmother.

Maisie Greening was just five when she took on her first Race for Life, the year after she lost her Nanny.

Marlene Wigham was 65 when she died from Myeloma, cancer of the bone marrow, in 2012.

Mrs Wigham’s daughter, 35-year-old Gemma Greening, said her little girl had always been close to her Nanny despite only being three when she became ill.

The Whitehaven mum said: “She wanted to do it for my mum, so I’ve always done it with her since. It’s lovely that she can do this for her and it’s so nice to be able to do it together.

“I was worried about her the first year but she was fine, she flew round. She’s got more energy than any of us!”

Now seven, Maisie was too young to take part in Cancer Research UK’s inaugural Pretty Muddy event in Carlisle, but had been desperate to see what it was all about.

So while her mum stuck to the tradition of running the charity’s regular 5k event with her on Sunday, she and family friend Aimee New also turned out the day before to tackle the obstacle course.

Mrs Greening said: “I’m doing it, rushing back to wash my gear, then packing it all back up again.

“Doing something like this makes you feel like you can do something to help in a situation where often you’ve felt helpless.

“Losing your mum is so hard, but my friends support me, and the messages you get when people are sponsoring you are just great.

“It’s always such a good atmosphere, and the mud just adds that extra bit of a giggle to it.”