The family hoping to give cancer a run for its money

So for Kathryn Harrop, 21, it was doubly devastating when her mother and father were both struck with the disease within four years of one another.

Now the student and her parents Alison and Geoff, of Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire, are fighting to see the sun set on the disease for good by supporting Cancer Research UK’s new Race for Life Twilight event as it comes to Yorkshire for the first time.

Miss Harrop, who is in her final year of a French and German degree at the University of Warwick, joined the charity as an intern to help organise the 5k evening runs, which will be held in Leeds and York this month.

Together with her parents, she is urging women to take part to help raise money for research like that which helped their family.

“When I tell people that both of my parents have had cancer in the last five years, a lot of them feel very sorry for me,” she said.

“But I feel so lucky and grateful that thanks to research and the treatments my parents were able to have, they’re both okay and our family remains together.

“Yet I know not everyone can be as lucky as us. So we must never stop fundraising and volunteering so that research can help everyone beat cancer.”

Retired Mr Harrop, 57, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2008 after suffering weeks of unexplained diarrhoea.

After a course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to shrink the tumour at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds, he underwent surgery to remove the tumour and part of his bowel three months later, followed by more chemotherapy.

“I was given excellent care and information and immediately felt I was on a well-trodden path on my road to recovery,” he said.

“I also had an great example of beating the disease as my father had also been diagnosed with bowel cancer at a similar age – and he lived to be 90.

“I’ve been given the all-clear and feel back to normal and that the cancer is behind me. I beat it.”

But the disease came back to haunt the family in January last year when his wife, 53, noticed a dimple in her left breast.

Her worst fears were confirmed after tests including a mammogram and an ultrasound scan at York District Hospital.

After a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery in March followed by two weeks of radiotherapy at St James’s Hospital in May, she is now taking a five-year course of hormone therapy drugs and is determined to beat the disease like her husband has.

“From a negative diagnosis I’ve found a lot of strengths and positives,” she said.

“At all stages in the process, I felt supported in my fight against cancer – by those involved in my treatment, my family and friends.

“I still have a few procedures to go through as part of my reconstruction, but I’m definitely on the road to recovery and now I am absolutely determined to get my own back on cancer.

“Research saves lives and I want everyone to know it.

Mrs Harrop added: “The continuous advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment that research has brought needs support from us all.”

The Twilight events were trialled last year in a handful of places as a spin-off of Cancer Research UK’s hugely successful Race for Life fundraisers.

They will take place in 20 locations this year including Roundhay Park in Leeds on Friday, October 18, and York city centre on Friday, October 25.

Event manager Tanith Batterham said: “We’re really excited about Race for Life Twilight coming to Yorkshire,”

“It is an amazing way to celebrate life but also remember those who have been lost to the disease.

“Light is a powerful symbol of hope so we want to see everyone with fairy lights and glow sticks.”

She added: “Twilight promises to be a lot of fun but there’s a very serious message. Thanks to research, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved already.

“And with help from the people of Leeds and the surrounding area, Cancer Research UK intends to make sure the sun sets on cancer for good.”