A brain tumour survivor and mum of twins will be heading to Heaton Park to raise money for the hospital that "saved her life" and against all odds, allowed her to become a mum.
Hannah Hill, 36, will take part in the Christie Charity’s "Festive Dash" at the park, with her mother Carol Owen, sister-in-law, Sophie Heyes and her miracle twins Thomas and Alice, aged eight.
Her decision to fundraise follows her inspirational story after her life took an unexpected turn after having a sudden seizure aged 18.
Hannah was taken to Wigan Royal Albert Infirmary and remained there for two nights.
A CT scan was arranged and return visit for an MRI scan, two weeks later, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Hannah, who grew up in Haydock, Merseyside, said the following three weeks were a blur of medical appointments, consultations at Salford Royal Hospital, and meetings with Dr Rao at The Christie hospital in Manchester.
In September, 2006, two days before her 19th birthday, Hannah had brain surgery to remove the tumour.
During this procedure, a glioblastoma - an aggressive form of brain cancer - was discovered.
She endured 30 sessions of intense radiotherapy, followed by seven months of chemotherapy with a trial drug at The Christie.
During this period she was told that the damage to her pituitary gland meant she would not be able to conceive a child naturally.
Hannah said: “Although when growing up all I wanted was to be a mum, being told at 19 I couldn’t get pregnant naturally was not my priority - beating this horrible cancer was!
“But as I grew a little older, and the cancer was at bay, being a mum was at the forefront of my mind again.
“Adoption was definitely the way forward for us, as I knew if we tried and failed to conceive, I would lay the blame on myself.”
In May 2007, Hannah went for another scan, and to her astonishment, the tumour had disappeared.
She continued chemotherapy for two more months and was cancer free by July 2007.
The following year Hannah travelled to Australia with her sister and friends, where she met her future husband, Mike Hill, at a rugby league match.
Three years later, they were married and offered a hormone treatment to aid with conceiving, but the pair opted to explore adoption instead.
A few months later, Hannah began to feel unwell and after some symptoms took a pregnancy test and the couple went to the hospital together, not knowing what to expect.
She said: “I remember the scan well, there was a trained midwife, that was practising scanning and a consultant training her.
“They explained to me, before the scan, that they would leave the room to discuss the findings and then come and tell us the results.
“She began to scan me, looking at the screen and at each other, we feared the worse, I was not supposed to get pregnant, so a happy scan was not expected.
“They left the room and entered back within seconds.
“The midwife said ‘so, Hannah and Mike, here is heart beat one…(pause) and here is heartbeat two!' My husband almost fainted and I cried with happiness.”
Now Hannah, aged 36, and her family want to thank The Christie hospital that saved her life and allowed her to become a mum by raising much needed funds for The Christie Charity.
Hannah, who lives in Wigan, will take part in The Christie Charity Festive Dash in Heaton Park.
The event is a 5K, walk, jog, or run where participants dress up in festive costumes to get into the Christmas spirit.
The dash starts at 10:30am, with entertainment and refreshments from 9.30am to 12noon. For more details about The Christie Festive Dash go to: The Christie Festive Dash
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