Woman to run Leicester 10K for friend who lost mum and sister

Kelly (right) lost her sister and mother to brain tumours

A woman is running the Leicester 10K race to support her friend who lost her mum and sister to brain tumours.

Kelly Griffin's mum, Dianne Griffin, 58, died from a glioblastoma (GBM) in July 2016, three months after being diagnosed.

Ms Griffin's sister Gemma, 37, died from the same disease in November 2022.

Her friend Catherine Ford, 46, is running just over six miles (10km) on Sunday to raise money for the charity Brain Tumour Research.

Ms Griffin's friend Catherine is running to support her friend

Ms Griffin said: "It was heart breaking to watch brain tumours take both my mum and my sister.

"Gemma had already been diagnosed when mum was told she also had a brain tumour and I just thought "this can't be happening."

"It's fantastic Catherine is doing the Leicester 10K in their memory.

"She knows how much this disease affected us as a family.

"I feel so proud of her and I'll be there to support her on Sunday."

She said her sister, who was a mother of two, had always suffered with headaches and migraines and scans at the Leicester Royal Infirmary revealed the tumour.

Gemma's diagnosis came as a shock, her family said

"Gemma was a healthy 30-year-old woman with young children. It was such a shock," she said.

"She had an operation to remove the tumour at Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham, followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

"She had to stop chemotherapy because she had a severe allergic reaction, but the radiotherapy kept the tumour at bay for seven years.

"There was no treatment for mum. I just couldn't believe it, it was shocking how quickly she declined until she died just three months later on 10 July 2016."

Ms Ford said she wanted to help prevent other families being devastated

On her online fundraising page, Ms Ford said she wanted to "prevent families being devastated in this way".

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: "We're so sorry to learn that Kelly lost both her mum and sister to brain tumours.

"We're really grateful to her friend Catherine for running the Leicester 10K in their memory."