Thousands raised for Cornish dad and daughter with same rare and incurable cancer
Hannah Pearce, from Liskeard, raced the Edinburgh Marathon with her partner to raise funds for Myeloma UK
Thousands of pounds have been raised for two people from the Duchy, who were diagnosed with the same form of rare and incurable blood cancer just three years apart from each other.
Hannah Pearce, from Liskeard, and her dad Neil, from Looe, are both diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, but were only given the diagnosis after a number of trips to their GPs, after initially being misdiagnosed.
They were misdiagnosed because doctors often don't know what to look out for - just because of how rare the disease is - just 24,000 people are living with it here in the UK, according to Myeloma UK.
Neil was originally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and polymyalgia, whilst Hannah was initially told she had inflammation of the cartilage after presenting with a pain in her sternum.
She was training for the Cornish marathon in that year - 2019 - before doctors realised her diagnosis was more serious.
Last weekend, to help raise awareness of the disease, Hannah and her partner Clyve, who runs the Ugalde & Son funeral directors in Liskeard, flew up to Edinburgh to run her first long-distance run since she received her stem cell transplant.
For the pair, the Edinburgh Marathon on Sunday (28 May) was all about raising awareness of the rare disease.
Hannah said: "The atmosphere was brilliant and the course was beautiful. The coast path was stunning, and we never considered Edinburgh to be like that - and what a time to be there.
"We ran in our bright orange Myeloma vests, and we were spreading awareness right there on the course. We met someone from Newquay on the start line, also taking part, and he sponsored us - which was just brilliant. We felt like we were making a difference right from the start.
"The amount of support and positivity we've had has just been amazing, and we're hoping the money will go towards research into more treatment.
"There's only a handful of treatments myeloma patients can have, and once you've had all of those, your options run out. My dad is on his fourth and final treatment, so we're really hoping that this will help to go towards more research for more research to keep people going for longer.
"We've had comments from people who have also been misdiagnosed, too - and to raise awareness of the symptoms of myeloma was really important to us during this marathon."
It's hoped the knowledge of the disease has improved, just through their campaign.
Hannah added: "It's definitely made a difference. We've had comments on our fundraising page of people who have been misdiagnosed, so I'm hoping this make doctors think a little more about what the possibilities could be when someone presents with the symptoms I presented with."
Hannah has received a stem cell transplant to help treat the condition - which is incurable - however, her dad wasn't eligible by the time he was diagnosed because he was over 70 years old.
There are only four rounds of treatment available for people with the disease, with the funds raised during the marathon hoping to provide cash to research further treatment.
You can donate to their fundraising page here: Hannah Pearce & Clyve Ugalde are raising money for Myeloma UK
You can find support services on the Myeloma UK website or on the NHS website.