Lowestoft mum with cancer held on to see daughters marathon

Lowestoft woman Lana Freeman had run the marathon last October after her mum had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Her mum, Sharon Freeman, held on to watch her daughter finish the race and died just hours later.

Lana, 33, had decided to take on the running challenge for Breast Cancer Research after her mum's shock diagnosis.

Her mum Sharon, a 57-year-old carer from Lowestoft, had been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer - leaving the family devastated.

The mother-of-three beat her first diagnosis in February 2012 but was told the cancer had returned in February 2020.

Speaking for the first time publically about the family's ordeal, Lana, a finance analyst, said: "I felt so powerless, and wanted to find something that I could do that could make a small difference.

"Everyone who knows me knows how much I hate running, so I thought a marathon would be a huge challenge to set myself to raise money for breast cancer research."

But two weeks before the marathon, Sharon took a turn for the worst and Lana was ready to pull out of the race.

Doctors at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston informed the family that the cancer had spread to Sharon's liver, bones and lungs.

"But mum was having none of it. She was adamant that she'd see me finish the marathon," Lana said.

Lana and Sharon Freeman (Image: Contributed)

"She held on to see me complete it.

"She always believed that I could do it, even when I didn't think I could.

"She was my biggest supporter and always believed I'd finish. She told me to go, and I wanted to make her proud."

Determined to make her mum proud, Lana pushed through and managed to finish last October's race in six hours and 46 minutes.

She raised £3,200 for Breast Cancer Research.

Lana said: "There were so many times during the race where I wanted to give up, but the thought of her kept me going.

"I was so exhausted, everything hurt and I honestly didn't think I could keep going. I walked and cried for about five miles - I just wanted to give up.

"But then I thought about my mum and everything she'd been through. She didn't have a choice but to keep going and keep fighting.

"She never once complained, and it made me realise that I shouldn't either.

"Thinking about my mum unlocked a strength in me that I didn't know I had."

Sharon saw a photo of Lana at the finish line with her medal before dying in the early hours the following morning.

Sharon and Lana Freeman (Image: Contributed)

"She'd held on to see me finish," Lana said.

"And although I didn't get to speak to her, she saw the photo I'd sent.

"It was heartbreaking - I went from the highest high to the lowest low within the space of a few hours.

"My only comfort was knowing how proud mum was that I'd finished the marathon, just like she knew I would."

She has since taken up regular running to help cope with her grief, saying it helps her feel close to her mum.

Lana said: "I hated running before, and was convinced that once I'd completed the marathon, I'd never run again.

"But when I'm feeling down, I go for a run and the sound of my feet hitting the floor is the distraction I need.

"I now run three or four times a week, which is more than when I was training for the marathon.

"Running feels like my connection to my mum now, and it's helped me through some really dark times."