Here at the Chester Chronicle I am fortunate to work with a great bunch of people, not just on the editorial team but also on the advertising side.

And since we all share the same office and communal kitchen, we get to know all sorts of things about each other as we wait for our toast to burn so when I heard it casually mentioned that property account manager Diane Smith was planning a gruelling 10-day fundraising trek of the Great Wall of China, I nearly dropped my Muller Light.

Because when you consider the story behind why she is taking on such a mighty feat, I thought that the least I could do was mention on this page the reasons why she’s taking on this challenge.

Last year, Diane turned 50. It was a year she had been looking forward to, because life was good. She was due to celebrate her silver wedding anniversary and was hoping against hope to get the all clear from the cancer that had afflicted her life since July 2009.

Back then, her life had been turned upside down when she felt a lump in her breast, and she visited her GP who referred her to the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre .

Within days, Diane had a hospital appointment and went for a mammogram. She was so sure it would be nothing serious she didn’t even tell anyone she was going, not wishing to worry anyone.

But unfortunately it didn’t work out that way, and after having tests that morning, just hours later, she was told she had breast cancer.

What followed was a long and gruelling course of treatment which included six months of intense chemotherapy, five weeks of radiotherapy and a course of Herceptin for a year.

“I knew from that first appointment that I had breast cancer, that I would need surgery, and that it was almost 100% certain that I would have to have chemo and radiotherapy,” Diane remembers.

Surgery

“I was devastated to say the least and it was at this stage I wished that I had told someone and that I wasn’t on my own. It turned out that I had an aggressive Grade 3 cancer which had spread to my lymph nodes, but thankfully nowhere else at that stage.”

“But whilst I knew I had breast cancer when I came out of the hospital, my biggest worry was how I was going to tell my husband and family – no-one knew I had even gone there, so to tell them I had breast cancer was going to be difficult and it was.”

But with the help and support of her family, and from staff at Clatterbridge, who Diane says ‘saved my life’, she battled through bravely and next month she has what she hopes will be her final appointment at the centre, the one she gets the all clear.

Knowing she was building up to this appointment and getting stronger all the time, should have meant that 2014 was a good year for Diane.

Shock

But Diane was left devastated when, three months before she and husband Brian were due to celebrate 25 years of marriage, he died very suddenly in June.

“I was planning a fundraising event to raise money for Clatterbridge because I wanted to give something back to them as they had given me my life back,” she said.

“But unfortunately that just wasn’t to be. Brian and I had been out on a Friday evening with friends when he suddenly collapsed. He’d had a heart attack but then went into cardiac arrest.

“Although his friend did CPR he never regained consciousness and passed away two weeks later on June 20, 2014. I was devastated and suffice to say, any plans I had got totally forgotten.”

Work and good friends helped Diane deal with her loss and she is now finally at a stage where she can begin to think about how to support Clatterbridge and also keep Brian’s memory alive – and she feels the Great Wall of China Trek in October 2016 is a good method of doing so.

Diane is hoping she has beaten cancer for good

“I suppose part of why I`m doing this walk is also in Brian’s memory – he was with me every step of the way during my cancer treatment and whilst it was difficult for me, I think sometimes it was even more difficult for him,” she says.

“I know Brian felt helpless sometimes and it was a constant worry that maybe the treatment wasn’t going to work or that the cancer would come back.

“Thankfully the cancer responded to the treatment and we were looking forward to the day when I would get the all-clear.

“I know he’ll be with me during the walk and so proud that I’m actually doing it.”

As for now, Diane is praying she will be given the all- clear at hospital next month. She knows she still has some time to prepare for the physically demanding challenge next year but is hoping to raise £2,850 before then,

And there is another special reason she opted to do this particular challenge.

The day she flies out to Beijing, October 7, 2016, would have been her and Brian’s 27th wedding anniversary. If that’s not a sign, what is?

Every week in Women 2day, Carmella De Lucia explores important issues affecting women in today's world. If you have a story you would like to share for Carmella to feature on the page, email carmella.delucia@trinitymirror.com.