News, Manchester
A cancer patient who was given six months to live in 2021 has completed her third Great Manchester Run.
Angela Summers thought “she would never be able to do a 10k again” after she was diagnosed with incurable spine and lung cancer since 2021.
“Every time I go across that line, I just think, ‘that’s another year I’ve been here’,” Ms Summers said.
The 61-year-old said she hoped her story would encourage others who faced serious illness not to give up.
She said: “Every finish line is borrowed time. It keeps me alive, physically and mentally,” she said.
“Even if you’re told the worst, never say never.”
Ms Summers, from Fallowfield, has been taking part in the Great Manchester Run since 2005.
But shortly after completing the race in 2021 she began suffering back pain which turned out to be a spinal tumour – a secondary cancer from a primary tumour in her lung.
Doctors told Ms Summers that she might never walk again and gave her a prognosis of just six to 18 months.
However, after beginning intensive chemotherapy, she began walking short distances with the help of Nordic hiking poles.
“It was freezing, it was painful, but it gave me something to work towards,” she said.
“Walking every day gave me a sense of purpose again and helped relieve the pain.”
Believing she was too ill to take part in the 2022 run, Ms Summers’ daughter Josie rallied friends and family to take part in her mum’s honour.
Inspired by their support, Ms Summers made the decision to join them herself at the last minute – and has taken part every year since.
Now more than 30-strong, their running group raises funds for cancer charity Maggie’s, which supported Ms Summers and her family as they navigated her diagnosis.
Ms Summers has undergone 36 rounds of chemotherapy and still attends scans every three months. The tumours are stable, allowing her to remain off chemotherapy for the past 12 months.
She said she walked every day and trained for each 10K event with the same determination that got her through treatment, using her sticks for support.
“I can’t run anymore, the pain’s too much, but I can still walk. I take painkillers, I lean on my poles, and I get it done,” she said.
