A rare cancer cruelly robbed Sharon Woodley of the chance to meet her first grandchild. Now, her daughter Chloe Bignell and Sharon’s husband Darren are taking on the London Marathon to honour Sharon’s memory and raise vital funds for sarcoma research.
Chloe Bignell, from Witney, Oxfordshire, is taking part in the 26-mile race in April with her father Darren Woodley in tribute to Sharon – a teaching assistant at North Leigh Primary School – who died in 2023.
It was at the beginning of 2023 that Sharon started to feel lethargic. She visited a GP and blood tests were taken. At first it was thought that she had a thyroid problem and was prescribed medication, but her tiredness remained.
Sharon then started to feel bloated and another set of blood tests was taken. She was then told that she might have ovarian cancer and was sent for some scans. She had already had breast cancer some ten years previously.
It was in July 2023 – 166 days after her first visit to the GP – that she was diagnosed as having stage 4 endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS), which is found in the uterus. There are an average of 79 cases of ESS diagnosed every year in England.
She started to receive chemotherapy in August 2023 at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford but her health rapidly deteriorated and Sharon died aged 53 on 19 September 2023.
Chloe said: ‘The disease was so advanced when it was found that maybe an earlier diagnosis would not have made much difference. But the hardest thing is I was heavily pregnant at the time with my first baby, Hallie Sharon-Rose, and gave birth 11 days after mum died. If she’d been diagnosed sooner, maybe she would have met Hallie – she had so wanted to meet her first grandchild. She would have been the best nana. Mum was a caring, well-loved person, who always put others before herself.’
Since then, Chloe along with her family and close friends – including husband John and younger brother, Jacob, 26, who has cerebral palsy – have been raising funds for charity Sarcoma UK. This has included Jacob completing a zip wire, and the family hosting a charity quiz and raffle night in Witney that brought in over £2,700.
Now Chloe, 29, and Darren, 57, a finance manager, are taking part in the marathon and have a fundraising target of £6,000. ‘We’ve never ran further than 10K so this really is a challenge for us, but we’re doing it for my mum,” said Chloe, who is a mental health occupational therapist.
‘The shortness of mum’s illness, the lack of quick diagnosis and the aggressiveness of her condition have made me realise how critical it is for funding to be put into sarcoma specifically. I’d rather race for Sarcoma UK against generic cancer charities. We need to understand more about sarcoma, to prevent other people going through what my mum, and my family and I have, and still are.’
Sarcoma UK’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, Kerry Reeves-Kneip, said: ‘We are deeply moved by Chloe and Darren’s commitment to running the London Marathon in Sharon’s memory. The heartbreak of Sharon missing the chance to meet her first grandchild by just days highlights the devastating impact sarcoma can have on families. With only 79 cases of endometrial stromal sarcoma diagnosed annually in England, stories like Sharon’s are crucial in raising awareness of these rare cancers. Every mile Chloe and Darren run will help fund vital research and support for sarcoma patients. Their determination to transform personal tragedy into hope for others embodies the spirit that drives our work at Sarcoma UK.’
To donate to Chloe and Darren’s appeal, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/page/chloe-bignell-darren-woodley1722367504073
