AN inspirational mother-of-two has vowed to complete the London Marathon despite living with brain cancer.

Gemma Edgar will be joined by two old school friends from St Helena School - Cara Greenley and Kealey Stone - when she takes on the challenge in April.

After discovering a terminal brain tumour in 2014, surgeons at Queen’s Hospital, Romford, removed as much of Gemma's aggressive cancer as they could.

Six weeks of radiotherapy followed and regular MRI scans to look for signs of regrowth were clear until last November when doctors discovered the tumour had regrown.

The news came just one week after Gemma found out she would be running in the marathon but she said she was still determined to run and raise money for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.

She said: "I was overjoyed when I found out I had a place - it was something that was on my bucket list to complete.

"Approximately a week after being told a routine scan showed my brain tumour had regrown and I would need further treatment urgently."

Two weeks later, Gemma, of Ipswich Road, Colchester, returned to hospital for a craniotomy to remove as much of the tumour as possible and then started on chemotherapy.

She said: "Obviously it's impacted on my training.

"I wasn't able to run at all in the first few weeks following surgery and since being on chemotherapy I have been struggling with sickness and fatigue.

"But I'm determined to continue and I won't let cancer stop me from crossing that finishing line."

The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust helped Gemma's son, Noah, when he was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma - cancer of the eye.

Gemma said: "Their caring staff are always at the end of a phone or only an email away if we have questions or are worried about anything.

"Noah is actually doing really well now, we have regular check ups to make sure he is doing okay but he is a very happy, cheeky, little boy who enjoys going to nursery three days a week."

Cara Greenley, 32, who will be running for Children With Cancer UK, said she was inspired to run the marathon after hearing the stories of her friends.

She explained: "We'd stayed in touch by Facebook and I knew what Gemma and her family were going through.

"Kealey's daughter had her cancer diagnosis too and the marathon is something I've wanted to do for a while so I applied to be part of the Children With Cancer team.

"I was blown away when I found out the charity had accepted my place on the team."

Cara added: "The training has been a bit of a shock to the system for someone who hasn't been overly active."

Christmas raffles and donations from friends and family have helped Cara raise £1,575 of her £2,000 target so far, and she hopes a charity curry and quiz night, on February 17 at Greenstead Social Club, will get her closer.

To donate to Cara's JustGiving page click here.

Gemma's JustGiving page can be found here.