A MUM-of-two who was diagnosed with cancer just weeks after giving birth to her first son will take on the London Marathon to raise funds and awareness for a research charity.

Rebecca Holden, of Alvescot, was initially told that symptoms of her bowel cancer were related to her pregnancy and had to push hard to receive her correct diagnosis in 2011.

The 39-year-old cancer survivor will take on the marathon on April 23 and has already raised more than £6,500 for Bowel and Cancer Research.

She said: “During my pregnancy I had quite a tough time and I was hoping as I had the baby the pain would go away – but it didn’t. It just intensified.

“In a way, when I was diagnosed I was just so relieved to know I wasn’t imagining this. I knew there was something wrong with me.”

The diagnosis came when her son Max was six-weeks old. A short while later she underwent surgery to remove the tumour on her colon, after which she had to go through six months of gruelling chemotherapy.

Mrs Holden continued: “The light at the end of the tunnel is that we’re now six years on and I’m cancer-free.

“It was a truly dreadful time but I was one of the lucky ones.”

Now, Mrs Holden is fit and well and has two sons: Max, six, and Nico, three. She lives with the two boys and her husband Piers.

She decided to take on the London Marathon to raise funds for charity, but she also wants to use the challenge raise awareness of the fact that bowel cancer can affect people of all ages.

Mrs Holden continued: “What alarmed me was how hard it was to get a diagnosis, partly due to my age, but also because I didn't know what the symptoms were. I felt like I was far too young to be diagnosed with bowel cancer. I thought it was just a disease that affected older people.

“It seems more and more people, young and old, are, and will continue, to be affected by this horrible disease. The good news is that if caught early it is one of the 'better' cancers to have, if there is such a thing, and survival rates are high.

“This is why charities like Bowel and Cancer Research are so important - we need to spread the word and make sure people of all ages know what to look out for.”

Anyone who wants to support Mrs Holden can do so via bit.ly/2oYbxED