Warwick mother’s courage
A MOTHER who put her own life at risk to protect the lives of her unborn twins is already setting herself challenges for the new year to say thanks to those that helped her.
Tracy Cirin completed the Cardiff half marathon last October and is now back in training to do a full marathon - all in aid of raising money for the oncology centre where doctors helped give her the courage to delay treatment for an eye tumour and carry her babies to full term.
It was two years ago that Tracy, who lives near Cape Road in Warwick, was diagnosed with cancer in her right eye. Doctors were keen to start treating it immediately.
But that would have meant Tracy agreeing to have her pregnancy induced at 24 weeks and so giving her unborn babies very much poorer chances of survival. At the time she admits she was very frightened.
But after seeking advice from specialists in rare diseases at the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Centre, Tracy took the brave decision to delay treatment until after their twins were born. Understandably, her husband Robert was also desperately worried. The couple already had a son, Alistair, who is now four.
Fortunately, the Liverpool doctors were able to take tissue samples of Tracy’s tumour and carry out experiments to assess the rate it was likely to grow over the three crucial months ahead. With their advice and ongoing support the couple agreed to postpone all treatment until Tracy was able to give birth to their daughters, Sophie and Chloe, in June 2010.
Treatment on her eye began within weeks. And, amazingly, by the following year she was in training to compete in the Peterborough half-marathon.
It was a race Tracy eventually had to pull out off. But thanks to Robert and their friends Gareth Oliver and Becci Pell, the group still raised £3,580 in sponsorship cash. And by last October, when Tracy herself was fit enough to compete in Cardiff, the total sum raised shot up to £5,500, all in aid of the Eye Tumour Research Fund, a charity set up by the oncology unit.
Now aged 33, Tracy says: “One thing I’ve learned is that it’s all too easy to take life for granted. My illness was a wake-up call. Now I want to give something back.”
Tracy found that training to take part in both half-marathons was the sort of exercise she could fit in with looking after the children and her part-time job for a mobile phone company.
She said: “Robert and I both want to support the work of the rare eye disease centre, but feel we can’t keep going to the same people asking for sponsorship for the same events. That’s why by 2014 I hope to be fit enough to run a whole marathon. And Robert, who at the moment doesn’t swim very well, is in training to do the Liverpool Triathlon.”
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Weather for Warwick
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Temperature: 4 C to 15 C
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