Cancer icon Tomlinson’s appeal passes funding goal

A charity set up by cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson has broken through a 2 million pound fundraising target set before her death, her husband said on Friday.

The mother of three defied her terminal condition to run marathons and cycle across America before dying aged 43 in September 2007, raising 1.25 million pounds for cancer charities.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown described her as an “inspiration to millions around the world” and paid tribute to her “amazing spirit”.

Jane’s Appeal has now raised 2.6 million pounds for cancer and children’s charities, her husband Mike told Reuters, and has set itself a fresh target of 5 million pounds.

“Since Jane has died we have actually been raising more money,” he said. “It seems that what she achieved in her life has inspired people more than when she was alive. It’s quite a remarkable testament to her.”

Her appeal now organises two fund-raising 10 km runs a year in Leeds and York, attracting 16,000 participants between them.

Jane Tomlinson, from Rothwell near Leeds, had decided to join a gym in October 2000 a few weeks after being told her cancer was terminal.

In 2003, she became the first person to run a marathon on chemotherapy when she completed her second London Marathon.

The following year she became the first woman in the world with incurable cancer to complete an Ironman triathlon—a 3.8 km swim, followed by a 180 km cycle and a full 26-mile marathon.

“One of the most remarkable things about this is that Jane didn’t come from the background of being well-known or a media person: she had no connections to the corporate world,” her 47-year-old husband said.

“All this money has come from hundreds of very small individual donations. I think that touches more than anything else.

“It is appealing to a huge number of people as opposed to a few main benefactors.”

By Tim Castle
LONDON (Reuters)