Southport’s Adele Roberts says she has set her sights on breaking a world record when she takes on the London Marathon this weekend.
Roberts, 44, has lived with a stoma for the past 18 months following surgery for bowel cancer and will attempt to complete the distance in under four hours and become the fastest female with an ileostomy.
“I hope I can be an inspiration to people that are living with cancer and going through it,” she says.
“I hope I can be an inspiration to people with stomas. I think getting on that start line will be a massive achievement for me – finishing the marathon will be even better.
“But if I get that world record, that will be the greatest thing ever.”
BBC Radio DJ Adele felt “in the shape of her life” when symptoms, including bloating, first developed and initially delayed seeking medical advice due to the pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic on the NHS.
Following a potentially life-saving conversation with her father, she was eventually tested and underwent treatment for stage two bowel cancer a few weeks later in October 2021.
“I wasn’t ready for it,” Roberts says of her diagnosis. “I remember thinking in that moment, ‘am I going to die?’ That was the first thought in my mind.
OTS News on Social Media