100 miles for the Teenage Cancer Trust

By Patty Lapitan

Like a lot of people, I hadn’t managed to be very productive these past 5 months of lockdown. In fact, I could probably estimate that my time has been spent 70% Netflix and 30% trying (but failing) to study. If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m a massive procrastinator and I had been trying to get out and start running all Summer but never managed to start. That was, until, I came across a fundraising challenge set by Teenage Cancer Trust - to run 100 miles in August.

Why did I decide to do it? By luck, I suppose, but I guess it all worked out! As a medical student, people always ask, "What do you want to specialise in?" Even though I never quite knew why, that answer was always oncology for me. My biggest motivation for Medicine has always been to be able to embody my faith in what I do, and there's something inspiring about oncology that would let me do just that - where compassion and care is even more important, for patients facing the worst times of their lives. In the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) online summer school, there was a session on paediatric sub-specialties. One of the doctors was a paediatric oncologist and when she spoke about her work and the children she works with, it got me very excited for the future career I could pursue, but also very empathetic. A day or two after this session, I stumbled across an advert promoting this challenge on Facebook and as cliché as it sounds, I thought .. It'll be over 10 years before I'd get to help those patients facing cancer as a doctor, but I can strive to support those that are able to help them right now.

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