SHE defied the odds by surviving past her 15th birthday, and now almost two years later, Stephanie England is pushing the boundaries once more
by taking part in Race for Life. The sixth-form student, who is 17 next month and lives in Old St Mellons, Cardiff, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour when she was just 12 years old. But she has recovered enough to join the campaign for this year’s Race for Life, which was launched yesterday. She said: “Before I became ill I didn’t realise how many children there were being diagnosed and I never really knew anything about cancer. “I didn’t have any major cancer symptoms, but I fainted a few times and my family noticed I wasn’t using my right arm. It all went from there really. “When I was 14 years old a doctor practically told me I wouldn’t live beyond 15 but I’m nearly 17 now and I’m living proof that you can defy the odds if you have a positive attitude and great friends to pull you through.” Each day Stephanie is fed through a gastric tube and has received intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy to contain the tumour, while also overcoming pneumonia on several occasions.
Friend Katharine O’Brien, 17, of Pentwyn, who will be taking part in the race alongside Stephanie, said the only training she had done was running around Stephanie’s house.