Stoke-on-Trent doctor with cancer takes up liver disease cause

Dr Alison Brind hopes to raise money and awareness for the treatment of liver disease

A doctor with pancreatic cancer has said raising awareness of liver disease, which is her specialism, has helped with her mental health.

Dr Alison Brind, a liver specialist who has worked in Stoke-on-Trent for 25 years, was diagnosed in September.

She said her illness left her "very low and depressed" before an oncologist suggested she take up a cause which was important to her.

Since then she has raised more than £6,000 through a range of challenges.

Dr Brind, who works at University Hospitals North Midlands (UHNM), described herself as a "very, very, very, very, enthusiastic runner and walker" before her diagnosis, having taken part in a series of marathons and ultra-runs.

Losing her ability to take part in those runs had "been hard to cope with", she said, but taking up her cause had "made me full of life again and full of enthusiasm".

"It's stopped me thinking about myself really," she explained.

'Trying as much as I can'

One of her achievements has been to persuade around 300 friends and colleagues to take part in a Park Run in Trentham, Staffordshire, and she hopes to get some of them running longer races in the future.

She also hopes to make a difference by raising awareness of liver disease and said: "I wanted to get the message out there that it is preventable."

There are a number of types of liver disease, some of which can be avoided by maintaining a healthy weight and not drinking above recommended alcohol limits, according to the NHS.

Dr Brind hopes the money she raises can pay for a training bursary for hospital staff at UHNM and for hospital equipment.

She said she was "not unwell" at the moment and while it was "unbearable" to think about her health deteriorating in the future, "it's better to enjoy the health and admit it's not going to go on forever".

"It also helps all the people around me, who care for me, to see me not depressed, getting out there, trying as much as I can," she added.

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