A BRAVE daughter has pledged to take her cancer-stricken mother's place on the start line at the Great South Run in October.

Mandi Sussex, of Woosehill in Wokingham, was ready to take part in the 10-mile run in Portsmouth for the second year running before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March.

Therefore, while Mandi, 49, recovers from chemotherapy, her daughter, Abbie Ward, 21 – a self-confessed inexperienced runner – has stepped in to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

“It's been devastating. It's had such a huge impact on the whole family but we've rallied around her and it's made us much closer,” Abbie admitted.

“I had just got off a plane from my holiday in Prague when my mother told me. She just sat me down in our home and said, 'I'm really sorry, I have some terrible news.'

“She's done five rounds of chemotherapy now but has done really well and is recovering. She's been so strong and I just wanted to do something for her to make her proud.

“Running is simply mum's life. Her eyes welled up with tears when I told her I was going to do this. We had a little laugh as well because everyone knows how much I hate running.”

But despite the absence of any hard training as of yet, Abbie has a modicum of experience of what lies ahead.

“I've done a 5k charity walk before and that nearly finished me off,” she said. “So God knows how I'm going to get on in October. I've started a bit of training, but it's going to be so hard.

“I'm just doing this for mum though, though. So when she gets better we can run together.”

Abbie, a third-year criminology student at the University of Portsmouth, has set herself a target of £100 when she takes part in what she calls 'mission impossible'.

So far the duo have raised £2,795 for Breast Cancer UK, Cancer Research UK, and Macmillan Cancer Support.

For more information, or to donate to Abbie, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/abbie-runs-portsmouth