A BRIDGWATER woman, Maria Hobbs, is marking her 60th birthday by taking part in Cancer Research UK's Race for Life 5k in Taunton along with her husband Shaun Hobbs, her son Philip Sutherland and his husband, Alan Sutherland.

The charity event takes place in the county town on July 9 and aims to raise valuable funds for life-saving research.

She said: "It is my 60th birthday this year, and I wanted to do something for my friends who supported me through my challenges, past and present.

"I first had cancer when I was 38 years old (a wife and mother working, with four young children - three times boys and one time girl).

"I was only having a shower getting ready to go to work and was stopped in my tracks by a sharp pain in my back and leg and I struggled even sitting down.

"My husband was at work so my parents took me to my doctors.

"I was examined then told to go to hospital as I might have a slipped spinal disc (I did not want to go, so the doctor prescribed me some pain relief and said they would ring me later to see how I was getting on)."

She said that the pain relief did not work, so then the doctor said that it could be serious, and she was advised once more to go to hospital to get checked.

She was given an MRI scan at hospital that showed that she had a large shadow at the base of her spine and was rushed to another hospital to have emergency surgery.

"I was diagnosed with a rare spinal cord tumour called an ‘Ependymoma’ usually only found in the brains of young children," she said.

Over the next few years, he had to learn to walk again.

She was then hit with her next health issue, when a routine MRI scan found a bleed on the brain followed by a brain tumour.

She said: "My mobility was never the same but eventually with time and patience I started to drive again and do more physical activities.

"In December 2018, I was able to walk holding a walking stick to go to my eldest son wedding.

"When I thought that was it, in early January 2019, I had three strokes, one after another including a few falls, but another year went by and with help I managed to start walking with a frame."

She then collapsed again and was told it was caused by a stroke.

She said: "I had two of these followed by over 10 TIAs (transient ischaemic attacks), but this time I was left with uncontrollable movement in my left side of my body.

"Now I am unable to do all the things others take for granted, I rely on others for everything including everyday chores, washing and walking."

The doctors were trying to find a reason that caused her strokes, seizures and they eventually found a rare blood condition called ‘Hughes Syndrome’ also known as “sticky blood syndrome” or antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).

It is an auto-immune condition that affects the way that your blood cells bind together, or clot.

Hughes syndrome is rare. It cannot be cured but is controlled by regular blood checks & blood thinners.

She said: "As I am at risk of falling, my GP has said that I can only do the ‘Race for Life’ if I have my husband, my carer and two others there to support me."

Her plan is to walk for a short while holding on to her wheelchair with support around her, then her support pushing her in her wheelchair part way if she gets tired.

She said: "I am doing this challenge for a female friend in her early sixties with a progressive cancer, her granddaughter aged eight years with leukaemia, a female friend's daughter in early thirties with a progressive brain tumour, and a female friend with breast cancer."

To check Maria's fundraiser for Cancer Research UK please click here.