That was the message from Louise Ramm, who lives in Cranham with her husband Jason, ahead of a marathon walking challenge.
In July last year, Jason was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer.
After a year of treatment he was declared cancer-free in June this year.
Louise, along with 14 members of her friends and family, are walking the Shine Night Walk from Westminster to Waterloo on September 20.
In July 2024 Jason was diagnosed with cancer(Image: Louise Ramm)
“I’m so grateful,” Louise told the Recorder.
“Without the work that Cancer Research does, Jason’s outcome could have been very different.
“I’m doing it to give back what I can.”
The group, nicknamed The Walking Warriors, set up an online fundraiser for Cancer Research UK and set a £950 target.
This has since generated more than £2,600 in donations.
The fundraiser can be donated to here – The Walking Warriors’ fundraiser.
Days after being diagnosed with cancer, Jason underwent an operation to give him a stoma bag before starting chemotherapy in Queen’s Hospital in Romford.
This was unsuccessful, so doctors switched to giving Jason chemo tablets and performing radiotherapy instead.
After five weeks of this, Jason’s tumour had shrunk enough for surgery and, after a nine-hour operation to remove it in July, he was declared cancer-free.
Louise said: “He remained so positive – he worked when he could, he continued to socialise when he could and he was just amazing.
“He never let it get him down and refused for it to take over his life.
“I made sure to photograph his journey which may have looked silly at the time but I wanted him to look back and see what he did.
“In 10 years it’ll be a blur but I want him to remember that what he went through is huge – he survived it physically and mentally.
“He’s a role model.”
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Louise and the group are walking the full Shine Night Walk marathon which, according to Cancer Research UK’s website, will take between nine and 14 hours.
“Training is going well and I think everyone’s prepared,” Louise said.
“We’re all fit but we might have injuries – we’ll be strapping our knees up and bandaging our feet.
“A blister, even if it goes down to my bone, is nothing compared to what someone with cancer goes through so I won’t moan once about any aches and pains.
“We’re all set to go and quite hyped about it.”
Louise described Jason as “brave” for allowing her to share his story and she wants people going through a similar journey to hear of the positive outcomes.
She had a message for cancer patients and their families who may be going through what herself and Jason went through.
She said: “Hold on to hope.
“The minute you let yourself become negative is when you struggle.
“We tried to carry on with life as normal – we attended a wedding during his chemotherapy, we had a date night each week where we went for dinner and he looked forward to that.
“We even named his stoma bag – Stan the Stoma Man!
“Make light of it when you can.”
