Meet Libbi- an incredible human who has challenged herself to walk 10k steps per day AND run a 10k race per week for the whole of June, to raise money for BRCA+ Chat, in honour of her sister Leigh who was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.
Run Libbi Run!
Libbi Jones
How it all began
In 2021, I was diagnosed with the BRCA 2 mutation; however, before we get onto my story, let me take you back to how we found this out.
My auntie defeated breast cancer twice, and ovarian cancer. This led to the BRCA 2 mutation test being completed on her, which came back positive. At the time, nobody in my family really understood what this gene was and the effect it can have on people. After finding out my auntie had the BRCA 2 mutation, my dad needed to be tested, along with his other 2 siblings. My dad’s testing came back positive, meaning my sisters and I also needed to be tested. I am the youngest of 3 girls and found out when I was 21, meaning I could not do anything for another 4 years, and to be honest at the time it was not at the forefront of my mind. Both myself and my middle sister Leigh, were diagnosed with the BRCA 2 mutation.
4 years later
Roll on 4 years and it was building up to me turning 25 in March, when in February 2025 my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, 2 months before her 30th birthday in April, after finding a lump. In March, she had the lump removed along with another one that was found through a mammogram. Now, she is receiving chemotherapy and is on her 3rd cycle and is absolutely smashing it; she really is my inspiration. I have now had my first MRI, due to the circumstance change, but also the age limit for MRI’s has been lowered from 30 to 25.
Something good from a bad situtation
This brings me onto the reason I am fundraising for BRCA+ Chat. It was something I came across when I wanted to find more information about the BRCA 2 gene, and I got gripped into reading other people’s experiences and the support that BRCA+ Chat offer to people who are going through the same situation. This is the reason I wanted to do this to raise awareness for an amazing charity who help people to understand the gene and offer support to anyone who has been affected in their own way.
Running and exercise is one way that helps me deal with my own mental health and with life being quite stressful recently it has helped me. Therefore, I wanted to do something which incorporated my love for fitness but also raising awareness for the gene. Now it is time to complete the challenge of walking 10,000 steps per day and running a 10k race per week for the whole of June- which isn’t proving to be as hard as I thought due to falling back in love with running! I hope my circumstance has inspired other to find out more about the gene or use the BRCA+ Chat charity to understand you are not alone in this and support is just a message away 🩷
Thank you so much Libbi! We are 100% behind you as you complete your challenge and are always here to offer support on your journey. Xx
Check out Libbi’s FUNdraiser here.
If you’d like to raise money for BRCA+ Chat, head to our dedicated page for more info.