Mum who survived tumour the size of a rugby ball celebrates 30 years of Cancer Research events
A cancer survivor has just launched Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life season and celebrated 30 years of the charity’s events.
Friends thought Lin Limbrey might be expecting her third baby when she developed a slight ‘tummy’. In fact, she was carrying a tumour the size of a rugby ball.
Mrs Limbrey, 55, from Chislehurst, Bromley, had no symptoms other than raised blood pressure when she saw her GP.
But weeks later she was diagnosed with adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC), which affects around one in a million people in the UK.
Mrs Limbrey is a retired bookkeeper who lives with husband Dominic Limbrey and son Josh Limbrey, 23. They also have a daughter, Charlotte Limbrey, 21.
Lin had always lived a healthy lifestyle so in 2004, she was stunned to be told she had a tumour that was doubling in size every 30 days and had grown into her liver.
She had surgery to remove the tumour along with her right adrenal gland, two-thirds of her liver, some lymph nodes, part of her diaphragm and vena cava, a large vein that carries blood to the heart.
Lin said: “I was lucky the tumour hadn’t grown into my kidney. But it was an eight- hour operation – it took me around six months to recover.
“My children were only five and three at the time.”
Life gradually got back to normal but in 2018, she started to experience chest pains and began coughing up blood.
A chest X-ray showed a shadow on Lin’s right lung and a follow-up CT scan revealed the ACC had come back as an 8cm tumour.
She needed a bronchoscopy and surgery to remove the tumour and the upper lobe of her right lung.
At the end of 2020, Lin started a gruelling six-month course of chemo which involved spending four days each month at Guys as an in-patient.
Mrs Limbrey has now been successfully treated for ACC twice and despite limitations is living a good life.
She said: “I have good days and bad days.
“Today I enjoy a wonderful life filled with love and laughter.
“Whilst I may tire more quickly and don’t do quite as much as I used to, I have a full quality of life, which I embrace.”
Recently, Mrs Limbrey joined celebrities to celebrate 30 years of Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life and launch the Race for Life season in London.
During a 30 years of Race for Life photoshoot, Mrs Limbrey met fitness guru, Derrick Errol Evans, who has wowed crowds as Mr Motivator, as well as TV presenter Anthea Turner, actress Leslie Ash and East17’s Terry Coldwell.
The group were photographed in nostalgic 1990s attire and accessories to celebrate Race for Life’s history and inspire people to sign up for an event.
Since the first Race for Life in 1994, more than £940 million has been raised for life-saving research and participants taking part this year will receive an exclusive medal to mark 30 years.
The first Race for Life event was held in Battersea in 1994, where 750 participants raised £48,000. Today around 450 Race for Life events are held every year and is open to everyone.
Mrs Limbrey and her family have also done a huge amount of fundraising for Cancer Research UK over the last two years, raising more than £24,000, including gift aid.
She said: “I want as many people as possible to be aware of the amazing work carried out by Cancer Research UK, because I am convinced scientists and researchers will eventually find a cure for this terrible disease.”
Pictured top: (L-R) Lin Limbrey after cancer and during her cancer treatment (Picture: Lin Limbrey’s family)