00:08Sarah is 67 and has been physically active all her life whether it's tennis
00:13hockey or other sport but in 2011 she started to get tired constantly with
00:18repeated illnesses and chest infections the doctors told her it was likely
00:22menopause but after more time she was diagnosed with a pre-cancerous condition
00:26and then underwent chemotherapy for blood cancer. September will mark blood cancer
00:31awareness month and Sarah wants to share her story so others are more aware of
00:35their symptoms earlier. First realized back in probably around 2011 I've been a
00:42fitness enthusiast all my life really and started to realize that I couldn't keep
00:46up it was becoming harder and harder I was getting breathless I couldn't keep as
00:51fit my endurance was going down and it just wasn't right. Sarah went through
00:56multiple rounds of chemotherapy and her brother donated her stem cells that
01:00needed to transplant correctly her condition had a low rate of survival only
01:0420 percent. In June 2016 virtually three years to the date I was about to go on
01:11holiday and my hematologist at Maidstone gave me a call and said you need to come
01:17up and see us and I said well I'm going on holiday tomorrow and she said well you
01:22can't because we can't guarantee you'll come back it had gone off the the results
01:26had gone off a cliff basically. And with September marking the start of blood cancer
01:31awareness month she wanted to mention how crucial it is to have a support network
01:35there to not only keep you mentally healthy but physically as well. She's been
01:39a hockey umpire at regional and national levels and says that her hockey club
01:43really rallied around her and even once she left the hospital they made sure she got
01:47right back on that pitch. People they've got your back checking after you how you
01:51doing and the hockey family I mean amazing not because we both play we're
01:56involved in hockey for a long time but the my umpire the umpires the coaches the
02:00people I'd come across umpired with or been alongside they were all sort of
02:04gunning for you and and that was really nice so you I want to get back on the
02:08hockey pitch I want to get back to doing that um and doing things that they
02:12would sponsor you for so yeah that hockey family for me because that's who I am
02:17has made a huge difference. Sarah's advice to anyone going through the
02:20condition is to make sure you have a support group there with you that can
02:23encourage you both physically and mentally. Finn McDermid for KMTV in Marden.
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