She did it to help find a cure for cancer.

All the while, she was fighting breast cancer herself. She's winning that fight too.

Reporter MARK PAYNE caught up with her.

IT was a moment Gill McDade will never forget.

It was the moment doctors told her she had cancer.

"I was just absolutely devastated," she recalled.

It was November 2007 and the diagnosis came after Gill discovered a lump while in the shower.

"It is the worst thing anyone can say to you that you have got cancer.

"You just fear it is a death sentence," said the 46-year-old.

Luckily Gill did not have the most serious form of breast cancer and two weeks later she underwent surgery at the University Hospital of Hartlepool to remove the lump.

Over the next few months, she had to face six sessions of dreaded chemotherapy.

Like most patients, she lost her hair, suffered sickness and felt totally drained.

"It really knocks you for six," she said. "It is horrible. I lost my hair after 14 days and felt bad for about 14 days afterwards.

"Then you only have about four days when you feel OK before the next session."

Gill also had to give up work at trade union Unison in Hartlepool, where she is a branch administration officer, for seven months.

But not long after finishing her chemotherapy, the mum-of-two pulled on a pink T-shirt and joined thousands of other women on a sunny June morning to take part in Hartlepool's Race for Life.

Still feeling the effects of the chemo, Gill walked the seafront route supported by daughters Rebecca, 23, and Jenni Stoddart, 25, and five-year-old granddaughter Sophie.

Between them they raised an impressive £450 for cancer research.

Gill, married to John, 50, who also works for Unison, said: "I did it to raise money and also awareness. Hopefully, when Sophie grows up they will have found a cure.

"It was a marvellous day. I was still quite weak because I had just finished the chemotherapy but I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Just days before the race, Gill had also started a course of radiotherapy which saw her travel to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital every weekday for three weeks.

But by July she was feeling well enough to return to work. Today she is feeling fine and has to take just one pill a day.