A Cumbrian woman living with cancer has walked 31 miles with her ponies to raise money for charity.
Dawn Evans, of Crosby, took on the month long challenge in September with her three miniature Shetland ponies Jungle Honey Bea, Mo and Taylor.
The 57-year-old managed to raise over £2,372 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust, all while living with the disease herself.
Dawn was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer in the form of bone cancer in her spine earlier this year.
She said: “In 2018 I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I went through chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, radiotherapy and my horses kept me going and positive.
“I recovered really well and then in July, I felt a bit of a twinge that wasn’t normal. I went to the breast care nurses and had scans and they said every was fine in that area, but they picked up cancer cells in the top of my spine.
“It was completed unrelated, so it was just a coincidence that they found the cells. It did knock me back, because it was the last thing I expected because I was still fit and healthy.
“Then I saw on social media that the Bone Cancer Research Trust were running an event called Canter for a Cure in September.
“I had sold all my big horses last year due to injury, but I have miniature Shetlands and I thought hang on, I know I can’t canter, but I can walk!
“So I thought, I’m going to do this, raise money for something that is affecting me and it will give me the incentive to get out and walk.”
Dawn walked most of the miles with her one-year-old pony, Jungle Honey Bea, while her other two ponies Mo and Taylor, both aged eight, also helped out with a few of the miles.
She said that to cover the miles, she would get out everywhere from beaches to roads as often as possible and even took Jungle Honey Bea to the Scottish Borders for a pony walking holiday with a friend.
Dawn’s fundraising efforts have also landed her the overall top fundraiser for the charity’s Canter for a Cure month.
She added: “At the end of September I had raised over £1,000 which I was overwhelmed with. But then the company I work for, SIS Pitches, in Maryport, they offered to match the money I had raised.
“So I actually raised just under £2,400 pounds. I was just blown away, I didn’t expect them to match what I’d earnt like that at all.
“I couldn’t believe it, everyone has been so so generous, even the few pounds given, it’s all gone towards it, but also the support of Elisha my daughter, her partner Tom and my husband David, all the moral support has been incredible.
“To be able to raise any amount of money for something that is affecting me personally, I feel like I have achieved something.”
Dawn said horses have been a big part of her life since she was a child and she got her first two miniature Shetlands from her daughter Elisha for her 50th birthday.
She said: “All through my life, horses have really kept me going.
“When I had breast cancer in 2018, I couldn’t work because of the treatment, I used to spend my days just sitting in the field, with the ponies and the amount of pleasure it gave me, even though they were grazing away, I could just sit and watch them.
“It’s made this fundraising so much more fun having my youngest pony with me.”
Dawn added that being able to fundraise and support the Bone Cancer Research Trust was really important to her.
She said: “I do get great pleasure from being able to do something like this.
“It probably won’t help me, but I’m one of the lucky ones because my bone cancer is containable. It’s a good prognosis for me, I’ll never be cured, but it’s not life threatening.
“So to raise that money, I feel it’s contributing to others in the future, because it’s going towards research to find a cure for it.
“While I’m unlucky to have it, I can still live a normal life and do these sort of things that will help others.”
