Leeds woman with rare cancer who had 'whole vagina' removed completing half-marathon less than a year post-op

Courtney Blake, 27, suffered from the rare and aggressive cancer with only 150 recorded cases since the 80s. She battled through a long bout of angiomyxoma, described as a "rare type of soft tissue tumour."

The graphic designer is currently six months post-op after she had a "cantaloupe-sized tumour" removed. The 16-hour surgery in November last year saw her bowel, bladder, uterus and "whole vagina" removed.

She spent a week in an intensive care unit, where she eventually moved to another ward in St. James's Hospital. The six-month recovery included several MRI scans as well as getting used to a colostomy and urostomy bag, dubbed "David Bowel-ie" and "Urethra Franklin".

Courtney said: "I had cancer. I'm not a victim of cancer. I just had it and I'm really trying my hardest to not make it my whole personality, but here we are. It wasn't a cancer where life was stripped away from me in my late 20s and luckily it doesn't reign a lifetime of chemotherapy onto me either.

"After only 10 days of being diagnosed with Angiomyxoma - a hormonal tumour that sits in the pelvic region of 'childbearing aged women' - I had a 16-hour long, major surgery to have it removed. I'm down a uterus, an ovary, a bladder, rectum, colon, anus and a whole vagina.

"My bowel is now in pieces and sits on the outside of my stomach in the form of a colostomy and a urostomy.”

Courtney has remained positive and humorous in the face of adversity and decided to hit back at cancer by taking part in Newcastle's Great North Run in September.

Courtney, who describes herself as a poor runner, has been training hard for the 13.1-mile race, where she plans on raising money for Cancer Research UK. She has been running four times per week since deciding to take on the half marathon less than a month ago, where she is gradually increasing her stamina and endurance.

Alongside her at the Great North Run will be her fiance Mac, 26, who is also running for charity, supporting Sarcoma UK.

Courtney said: "So I'm going to be running the Great North Run for Cancer Research. Or at least try to, I'm pretty s*** at running. Cancer research does fundamental life-saving work to not just try and beat cancer, but to give a support system to those going through it too.

"Anything you can donate will go towards giving someone a better life and I think that in itself is so awesome. Cancer has been a pain in my now non-existent arse, but let's show it who it's messing with. I've already had my fight and that b**** got knocked the f up so let's do it to help the next person."

Courtney is planning on raising at least £500 through her fundraising page on the Cancer Research website.