A woman who battled cancer took on a 14-mile trek across Dartmoor with her family to celebrate the fact she is ‘still here’.
Rose Thorpe, 59, from Salwayash, decided to take on the challenge with her husband Chris, 60 and son Joe, 23, after battling back from cancer on two separate occasions, and losing family members to the disease.
She said: “I had cancer twice, and during that time my mother, sister and brother-in law died from it, and that is what inspired me.
“I didn’t do it in their memory as such, as I didn’t want the day to be a sad one – I wanted to celebrate life and that I was still here.”
“I had stage 4 cancer, so it had spread. It’s all sorted now – I’m still here and I am all clear.”
The trek across Dartmoor took in 13 rock formations known as tors that are dotted across the landscape that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Hound of the Baskerville’s.
Rose raised £1195 for the end-of-life charity Marie-Curie which organised the hike across the moors on October 8 - in unusually hot conditions – adding to the challenge.
She added: “It was brilliantly organised with regular water stops and people bringing up the rear with paramedics which makes you feel very safe.
“We had to do a lot of training as we wanted to do it and it to be something we enjoyed and not be some sort of hideous thing.
“We had a lot of kit, so it was harder than it could have been. The whole thing was very doable, but it wasn’t a walk in the park either.”
Rose admitted that the final descent was the toughest part of the journey, but the thought of the cup of tea and scone waiting at the bottom had spurred them on.
She continued: “We all went ‘oh my gosh how much further’, that was the hardest part.
“You have to look everywhere you go as it is so rocky under foot – otherwise you will just fall over.”
"We are already planning next year's walk for another charity, so this one certainly didn't put us off, although I moaned for the last 2 miles, as the ankles were a bit weary by then, but the cream tea at the end did much to restore us."
Donations were made by friends and family as well as through Rose’s connections as co-chair of the Bridport-based cancer support group Stepping Out through their Just Giving page.
More information about Marie Curie can be found online at www.mariecurie.org.uk and donations can still be made at www.justgiving.com/page/marie-curie-13-tors-trek1693944034976
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