A YOUNG woman diagnosed with cancer soon after giving birth is organising a family event to celebrate being five years clear of the illness.

Colleen Bishop, 26, of Acomb, York, first noticed the symptoms of Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 19 when she was pregnant with her first son, Harley. Soon after his birth, she fell seriously ill and was diagnosed with the disease before undergoing eight months of chemotherapy. On the fifth anniversary of getting the all-clear, Colleen is organising a fundraising family fun day in Rowntree Park in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, which helps to support young people dealing with cancer.

She said: “I found a lump in my neck at the same time I found out I was pregnant. I carried on with my pregnancy but as soon as I had him I went downhill and was restless and coughing all the time.

“When Harley was six weeks old I was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary.

“I spent a month in hospital on a ward with older people with cancer totally unaware that teenagers and young adults could get this horrendous disease. I felt frightened, alone and unaware of where I could turn. I had a course of chemotherapy which of course had many side effects – one been loosing all my hair.”

Colleen said she only realised the work the Teenage Cancer Trust did to help young people when she went to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

After undergoing the maximum amount of chemotherapy, Colleen was given the all-clear and has since reached the five-year mark.

She said she had been helped by City of York Council and her friends Laura Macdonald, Anna Garling, Jessica Hodgson, Andrea Adams, Laura Young and Nicola Moore to organise the event.

The family fun day, which will include stalls, music performances, a race track with quad bikes and bouncy slides and castles, is being held from noon to 5pm on August 14. Admission is free. To help her reach her target of £2,000, visit teenagecancertrust.org/get-involved/as-a-fundraiser/fundraisers/teenage-kicks-rowntree-park-york/