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Release Date: 1st September 2004
Thirty-four year-old Natalie Carrick is living proof of Leukaemia Research’s work to improve the lives of leukaemia patients. She benefited from new research and to return the favour she is hoping to raise thousands of pounds at the BUPA Great North Run on September 26th to help others like her.
Natalie from Great Chishill in Cambridgeshire was diagnosed with a type of acute myeloid leukaemia back in 1996 and went through six months of gruelling treatment at Addenbrookes Hospital.
“When I was diagnosed it was a tremendous shock to me and my family. I had always been a fit and healthy person and so you would have expected me to be the last person to be struck with the illness,” she says.
Natalie, a product manager for Automation Partnership, a pharmaceutical research company, went through three rounds of chemotherapy, which left her feeling weak. She received fantastic support from her family. Her mum Marjorie kept her going, along with her husband Mike, who was then her boyfriend of only six weeks!
“Mum was my tower of strength - without her I don’t think I would have been able to get through it all. She was with me day and night for months, including sleeping by my bedside in an uncomfortable chair and bringing in home-cooked food when I couldn't bear the hospital meals,” she adds.
Natalie’s brother was lined up as a potential donor for a bone marrow transplant and the operation was scheduled. But thankfully Natalie was spared the operation thanks to Leukaemia Research funded projects on a test to give an advance warning of a possible leukaemia relapse.
The test allowed doctors to have a more accurate detection of the minute number of leukaemia cells (residual disease) in Natalie’s body after initial treatment, helping to tailor a treatment plan to her condition. Patients who have low levels or no sign of residual disease may be spared intensive treatment such as a transplant, while patients with higher numbers of cells can be given intensive treatment more quickly. Finally Natalie was given the ‘all-clear’ last June after six and a half years of post-treatment follow-ups, giving her a fresh view on life.
“I had the new test thanks to Leukaemia Research and it gave doctors a clearer picture of my condition, saving me from having the transplant,” she says.
“I was ecstatic when I got the news. It was just such a relief and we threw a party for family and friends to celebrate. I made the decision to get fit again by running and to help raise funds for Leukaemia Research, as I realise how important research is,” she adds.
Although Natalie has been training by running around 25 miles a week, the BUPA Great North Run in Newcastle will be Natalie’s first half-marathon run and to help her along the 13-mile course she has got her sister, Tamara, to join in.
Both sisters will be in good company as they run past some of the north-east’s most famous landmarks, running alongside celebrities from programmes such as Emmerdale, The Bill, Midsomer Murders and Monarch of the Glen, in the bid to clock up a time of around two hours. To sponsor Natalie and Tamara on their run visit http://www.justgiving.com/NatalieandTamara
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