Words by Smiley Team
Despite having an injured foot, cancer survivor Jayne Davies has walked over 780,000 steps accompanied by her dog, Teddy, to fundraise for Cancer Research UK. After she successfully recovered from ovarian cancer, followed by breast cancer, Jayne decided to raise money for a charity to which she feels she owes her life.
“I’m in absolute agony but I’m smiling and I’m alive. If it wasn’t for Cancer Research UK looking for treatments I probably wouldn’t be alive today,” Jayne said.
After getting the all-clear from the doctors in February, she was sitting in her living room with her family when she decided to take on the challenge of walking 10,000 steps a day for Walk All Over Cancer this March.
This target would have got her to around 310,000 steps in one month. Instead, she has reached over double this goal and raised nearly £7,000.
“My partner said I couldn’t because I’d only just been through treatment,” she said. The treatment had somehow damaged a nerve in her foot so she also had difficulty walking. As soon as she returns from her walks, she has to put on gel socks and alternate between a hot compress and ice cubes to calm the swelling.
Regardless of the pain it causes her, Jayne insisted on fundraising, knowing that her struggle would only prompt more people to donate to the cause.
“I think because people know how poorly I’ve been it’s gone a long way to people saying they want to sponsor me,” she said.
Fast approaching her fundraising target of £10,000, she has received donations of all kinds. Three local builders donated £100 each and one retired local gave over £500, a whole month’s worth of their pension.
People around the world have sent messages of support through online communities she joined as a Liverpool football fan. Fellow supporters living as far as Canada and Hong Kong have been following Jayne’s cancer journey from the start as she posted updates on social media.
Cancer Research UK funds research projects into treatments and cures for a whole range of different cancers. Their research began in 1902 and since then their achievements include pioneering research into radiation as a form of treatment as well as helping to develop the modern form of radiotherapy.
To support their work finding life-saving cures, donate here.
