A Leeds mum and daughter are urging people to get muddy for cancer research

A LEEDS mum who turned to the gym after turning her back on smoking, is urging local women to muck in and join the cancer fight by signing up for Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life Pretty Muddy event.

As part of her challenge to get fitter after quitting, Rebecca Dalton, 35, is taking part in the mud-splattered obstacle course which takes place at Temple Newsam Park on Saturday June 3, along with her 13 year old daughter, Louise.

Until she quit, Rebecca was smoking a packet of cigarettes a day and although she had tried to stop a couple of times, she had always gone back. But in January this year, with Louise approaching her 13th birthday, Rebecca decided it was the time to give it up for good.

This time she turned to the Leeds Stop Smoking Service to help her quit. It worked, and now she is nearly five months smoke-free and is confident she will never touch a cigarette again.

“I was just 13 when I first started smoking, the same age Louise is now, and I didn’t want her or my son, Benjamin, who’s nine, to ever think about starting to smoke themselves. Although they didn’t like me smoking, I didn’t want them to think it was OK to smoke because I did, I knew I had to set a good example. “Both my parents were heavy smokers and I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer three years ago which was really hard. My mum still smokes and has COPD. My kids saw the impact smoking had on them, and they could see how it was affecting my health. They were getting more and more worried about me, pleading with me to give it up, so that made me even more determined to quit.

Rebecca, who is a self-employed cleaner, soon began to feel the benefits of quitting. “I now feel ten times better. My skin looks and feels healthier and I’ve stopped coughing, which I used to do all the time. I’ve not piled on weight, which I was a bit worried about, and I am much more energetic.

“I’ve been exercising more and now regularly go to the gym with my daughter, so we are both getting fitter. So we decided to set ourselves the challenge of taking part in Race for Life, something I never dreamed of doing when I was smoking. If I can do it, anyone can. That’s why I’m urging women in Leeds to take part in Race for Life Pretty Muddy.”

For details about an event in your area visit raceforlife.org.