rivers2cross

Of all the chapters in The Record that I wish Mum had got to see was the chapter with Olympic equestrian gold medal winner Carl Hester at his stables in Gloucestershire. The stables are home to Uthopia, who Carl rode to win gold at London 2012, and also to the legendary Valegro ridden at London by Charlotte Dujardin. I know Mum would have absolutely loved to have come along on this one with her life-long love of horses.

We chatted at length about Carl’s career, which includes him competing at the last five Olympic Games, and also about a scare he had with bowel cancer after turning 40. As a result Carl now lives a much more healthy lifestyle, and was happy to lend his support to The Record. His first record is a treat!

The stables were amazing, and when I arrived Carl was taking a dressage lesson. Once we started chatting Carl gave me a guided tour, and I got to meet the famous horses. One of the reasons why I first contacted Carl was his bowel cancer scare, and we talked about this for the chapter in the book.

The Record was written in memory of my mum who died of bowel cancer in August 2016. All profits are donated to Bowel Cancer UK, and over £1000 has been raised to date. Click here to see all the ways to order a copy of the book. Charities need our support more than ever during these difficult times.

Bowel cancer claims 16,000 lives in the UK, and is the second biggest cancer killer. However if caught early at stage 1 it is very treatable, and the five year survival rate is over 90%. When detected at the late stage 4 the five year survival rate drops dramatically to 7%. This shows how crucial early diagnosis is to getting a better outcome. Knowing the symptoms is so important.