An 80-year-old grandmother undergoing treatment for a rare cancer abseiled from a 170-metre landmark for charity on Saturday.
Daredevil Catriona Tremlett, from Haslemere in Surrey, descended from the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.
Catriona’s health issues began when she experienced abdominal pain just after Christmas 2020. The pain was so severe that she had to go to A&E. As this was during the pandemic, Catriona was tested for Covid at hospital. Her result was positive and she was placed on a Covid ward for a few days before being sent home with painkillers.
She then started vomiting and was soon back at A&E. It was then that she was diagnosed with retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma. There are an average of 525 cases of leiomyosarcoma diagnosed every year in England.
Surgery on her 4.5-kilo tumour took place in February 2021, which involved the removal of her left kidney.
A year later, the cancer returned. Catriona required radiotherapy and a second operation in summer 2022. Her ordeal still wasn’t over as, in 2024, the cancer returned once more.
This time, Catriona was told her illness was terminal and received chemotherapy as a last resort, not knowing if it would work. After two sessions, the signs were good and the treatment continued. Though the chemotherapy caused Catriona heart failure, her current condition remains stable.
Catriona, who is married and has four children, two step-children and 14 grandchildren, says her family offered ‘fantastic’ support during her illness. ‘The chemotherapy gave me a little more time. I arranged a big party with all my family and gave a farewell speech…but here I still am.’
She added: ‘I wasn’t fighting cancer. I always accepted the fact I had cancer and made the best of it. There was no point in becoming angry.’
Catriona is fundraising for charity Sarcoma UK and took part in an abseil from the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth on 10 May. ‘I wanted to do something challenging like a skydive or a wing walk but I was told I couldn’t because of the heart condition. Sarcoma is a rare cancer and Sarcoma UK is a small charity so I wanted to do something positive for them.’
She was given the all-clear for the abseil and it wasn’t the first time she had taken part in such a challenge – 20 years ago she descended from the tower at Guildford Cathedral on a zip wire. Catriona is no stranger to heights, as a young woman she piloted light aircraft.
Sarcoma UK’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, Kerry Reeves-Kneip, said: ‘Catriona’s extraordinary courage and determination exemplify the spirit we see in so many affected by sarcoma. Her fundraising efforts for the Spinnaker Tower abseil were really inspiring, especially considering her own health challenges. Donations like hers are vital in helping us fund groundbreaking research into new treatments, so that future patients won’t have to face the same difficult journey Catriona has experienced. We’re incredibly grateful for her support and were cheering her on for this remarkable challenge.’
To donate to Catriona, go to Catriona Tremlett is fundraising for Sarcoma UK
