Crouch End mum and cancer survivor Lorna Ross

An eternally grateful Crouch End mum is donning her running shoes once more for a charity which she believes saved her life.

Lorna Ross, 55, will be joining more than 1,000 women in Finsbury Park tomorrow, all running five or 10km to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

But Mrs Ross, deputy head at St Michael’s Primary School in Highgate, has more reason than most to put on the pink T-shirt which has become synonymous with Race for Life, because the work Cancer Research carries out with the help of funds raised at events like this has helped ensure she saw two boys grow up.

Sons James and William were just 15 and 10 when a routine scan revealed she had breast cancer in October 2007.

She said: “A big hole opened up before me. My first thought was: ‘Oh God, I want to see them grow up.’ The most difficult thing was telling the boys. It’s tricky because you don’t want to worry them with terrible news.”

Mrs Ross underwent four weeks of radiotherapy following surgery and has been on breast cancer drug Tamoxifen for the past four years – a drug with benefits which were trialled thanks to money from Cancer Research.

In November, she will have been clear of cancer for five years and has started planning for a retirement in Cornwall with husband Alistair, 57.

She added: “I owe my life to Cancer Research UK. I am so grateful and that is why I am running Race for Life.”

To find out more about Race for Life at www.raceforlife.org or call 0871 641 111.