Woman goes teetotal for Dryathlon
A woman has been motivated by the death of her father from cancer to give up drinking for a month and raise awareness about the disease.
Kirsty Moore, 40, will take part in the first Cancer Research UK Dryathlon, which will see participants banish alcohol from their diet for the month of January.
Ms Moore, from Largs in North Ayrshire, was pregnant with her first child when she and her family received the “horrific” news that her father George Hutton was terminally ill. Mr Hutton was initially diagnosed with leukaemia in December 2007 one month after he retired.
While in hospital for chemotherapy treatment a chest scan revealed a dark shadow on his lung which was later confirmed to be lung cancer. He died in September 2009 aged 67. Ms Moore took some comfort from the memory of her father’s joy at living long enough to meet her son Crispin, who was born a few months before he died.
She said: “When the leukaemia was diagnosed it was a mild form in the early stages and my mum had said she would be happy to get five to 10 years with him, but on finding the shadow we knew that was it. We knew there was no chance for him and that was devastating.”
Ms Moore found out about the Dryathlon from her friend Kate Gadkowska, who is now teetotal. Ms Moore said: “We used to be drinking buddies and that was a significant part of our friendship as we spent our formative years together in Edinburgh. Kathy’s been teetotal for two years now and it’s totally changed the dynamic of our friendship, it took a while for me to readjust. But now it’s kids and sobriety.”
After her friend laid down the Dryathlon challenge, Ms Moore tallied up the good reasons to take part. She said: “It’s all about healthy living, and drinking and smoking to excess contribute towards cancer. I started doing research when my dad was ill and learned that prevention is equally important as cure.”
Also taking part in the Dryathlon is Dr Brian Clark, a consultant clinical oncologist at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre who was inspired by his patients to get involved. The father-of-three said: “I always hear about patients’ fundraising efforts but I haven’t done it myself before. From my own point of view I have always said that I’ll give up drink after Christmas but never have. It was the association with CRUK (Cancer Research UK) that finally pushed me to do it.”
Cancer Research UK spokeswoman Linda Summerhayes said: “We are asking men and women to pledge now to give up alcohol in January and raise money for vital research into cancer. They can donate the money they save or they can get sponsored to raise funds.
“Giving up alcohol for a month won’t have an impact on your long term risk of developing cancer. However, giving up alcohol for a month and raising money to fund research could help to save lives through the ground-breaking work carried out by our doctors, scientists and nurses in Scotland.”
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