A WOMAN has spoken of the cancer that took the life of their father, and the fundraising she and her family are doing in his memory.
Helen Coles' father, John Hollywell from Hereford, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2020 and died just 11 months later.
Mrs Coles, who is originally from Hereford and currently living in Newport said: "Dad was full of life until he started to get backache.
"You can imagine our devastation when he was told a few months later he had stage 4 prostate cancer and it had spread to his bones.
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"Despite battling hard dad lost his fight in less than a year."
Mrs Coles has spoken on how the family are looking to mark his memory.
She said: "He was such a great dad. We’re a close-knit family and he would do anything to support me and my sister so fundraising has been our way of supporting him."
Helen and husband Matt Coles, together with Helen’s sister Janet Preece and her partner Ian Munroe have raised almost £11,500 for Prostate Cancer UK over the last 2 years.
Left to right Matt Coles. Helen Coles, Janet Preece and Ian Munroe.
Now Mrs Coles, 44, is gearing up for the Cardiff Half Marathon which takes place on Sunday September 25.
"I’m hoping it’s a case of third time lucky. I signed up in 2020 but it was postponed due to the pandemic and then in March, I was due to compete in the postponed 2021 race.
"I had done all the training but I caught Covid the day before", she said.
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According to Prostate Cancer UK, more than 52,000 men are diagnosed with this type of cancer every year on average, or 143 men every day.
It is the most common cancer in men with a man dying because of it every 45 minutes.
One in eight men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime.
Mrs Coles said: "We are raising money in the hope that one day no-one has to go through this and families won’t be left grieving a loved one that has gone too soon.
"We are also running for those who are living with the disease and for the families that support them."
You can sponsor the sisters at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/colespreece
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