A FITNESS fanatic who lost both her parents to cancer whilst battling the disease herself is raising money to help end the condition for good.

Laura Wingar, an instructor with Bounce Colchester and Marks Tey, is running the London Landmarks Half Marathon this month in aid of Cancer Research UK.

The 31-year-old lost her mum, Wendy, and dad, Carl, to varieties of the illness by the time she was 21.

And a cruel twist of fate also meant she herself was diagnosed with stage three thyroid papillary cancer while her parents were fighting other forms of the disease.

Laura, who lives in Colchester, said she first became aware of cancer when her grandfather died from a brain tumour when she was seven.

Six years later dad Carl was diagnosed with Bence Jones Myeloma, a rare variant which begins in the bone marrow and affects the blood’s plasma cells.

Laura said: “My dad had to go through chemo and also had a bone marrow transplant.

“At a young age I watched my dad cry, go through pain, lose his hair, sleep most of the time and had his career put on hold.”

While Carl was in remission, Laura’s world was further rocked when her mum, Wendy, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

She was only in her 40s at the time but underwent a full hysterectomy in the hopes of stopping the spread of the condition.

Laura said: “After a family holiday she got really poorly and hospital visits and stays became more frequent. She had pancreatic cancer.

“She started treatment of chemo and started to lose her hair, but she carried on getting weaker and weaker. She lost her battle in 2009, two days after her birthday.

“All I felt was numb and heartbroken but I didn’t have time to grieve I had to pick myself up to be there for my dad and keep him fighting.”

Carl died the following year at the age of 51.

Laura said: “He put up a really good fight, hitting remission for the disease twice but sadly after a nine-year battle he went into renal failure needing dialysis three or four times a week. A few months later his body had had enough.”

As if having to support her parents through cancer was not enough, during their darkest days with the disease, Laura herself was fighting stage three thyroid papillary cancer.

In 2008, she found a lump on her neck which was removed along with half her thyroid. The lump was found to be cancerous.

Laura said: “A few weeks later I was back in hospital to have another operation to have the rest of my thyroid removed.

“After I had recovered I had to go through gruelling radioactive therapy where I was locked in a special room for a week by myself as I was dangerously radio active.

“I had to talk to people through a door, food delivered on paper plates and doctors entering the room in special suits.”

She added: “To this day I still remain in remission going for six monthly check ups, regular blood tests and I take a high dose of thyroxine every day to keep me alive.”

After beating the disease herself, fighter Laura is now hoping to help others overcome it too - and hopefully cure it for good.

She said: “Not only have we suffered so many losses in our family, we’ve lost friends to the disease, supported friends battling the disease and supported family and friends of people facing the disease every day.

“I’m doing this half marathon in memory of those we’ve lost, those who are still fighting and for me to show cancer I’m actively kicking it’s butt.”

To help raise vital funds for Cancer Research Laura called on the help of Bounce members and instructors, hosting a mass charity session at Colchester Academy Sports Centre.

The event raised £800, bringing her running total to nearly £1,500.

Donate at fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/lauras-giving-page-1436.