A GRANDMOTHER who was diagnosed with terminal cancer just days before her 60th birthday has thanked her friends and colleagues, after inspiring them to raise thousands of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Theresa Harris stood outside Sainsbury's, in Redhill, to greet two of her colleagues at the Station Road supermarket who had just completed a sponsored walk across the borough.
Kerry Hearn and Sharon Allan raised more than £1,000 on the walk, which took them through Salfords, Woodhatch, Southpark, Reigate, Merstham and the Watercolour estate, before finishing at Redhill Sainsbury's. It is the latest in a long line of fundraising activities staff at the food store have undertaken since learning of Mrs Harris's condition.
Speaking after the event, Mrs Harris said: "I've had a lot of support from all my colleagues at work and from the management and everyone – it's been overwhelming. It's been heart-wrenching actually, it's such a close-knit community at work and it's not until something like this happens you realise."
She added her diagnosis is terminal, though she continues to undergo treatment.
"I was rushed to hospital and they carried out tests and found the cancer in my liver. They've told me they can't do anything for it. I just hope the chemo keeps it controlled."
Mrs Harris names her 18-month-old granddaughter Olivia as one of her biggest motivations.
"She's one of the biggest reasons, along with my husband, why I want to live longer than they [doctors] gave me."
Sales assistant Miss Hearn, 25, added: "It was brilliant to see Theresa's face at the end and to see her waving at us.
"It all makes it much more personal and we have a lot more feeling in it because we knew it was someone we worked with."
