Woman, 31, who battled breast cancer touched by fundraiser following ‘nightmare year’
A 31-year-old Northampton woman, who has been battling breast cancer over the past “nightmare year”, has been touched by a recent fundraiser completed by her family and friends.
Kim Ingram was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in May 2024 and has undergone many treatments including chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.
“Tim and I only got married in February last year,” Kim told the Chronicle & Echo. “I found a lump in April and was diagnosed on May 16. I’m only 31 and had to quit my job. We were in a really difficult financial situation.”
Though Tim continued to work his full-time job, the main issue for the couple was not being able to afford their weekly food shopping and bills.
Kim continued: “It was a nightmare year, the toughest. It is not what we wanted after getting married.”
The 31-year-old was told that she is cancer-free in December 2024. However, due to her age and the aggressive nature of the cancer, Kim is currently undergoing another year of treatment to prevent it from coming back. She remains in and out of hospital and is still unable to work.
When Kim and Tim were at rock bottom with their finances, they turned to cancer charity The Leon Barwell Foundation for support.
As well as struggling to afford food shopping and bills, the pair were concerned about providing for Tim’s 16-year-old son Toby.
“The Leon Barwell Foundation was amazing and didn’t ask too many questions,” said Kim. “After giving proof of my diagnosis, we were given a £500 Amazon gift voucher. For a month we were able to buy food every week from Morrisons, and some school uniform for Tim’s son.”
As a result of helping them out one of the most difficult periods, Tim decided he wanted to give back to The Leon Barwell Foundation.
Tim, Toby and family friends Fraser and Luis walked a total of 40 miles over the course of a day in mid-April. They walked to a variety of local rugby clubs on their journey – including Daventry, Long Buckby, Bugbrooke, Towcester, Men’s Own, BBOB, Casuals, Northampton Old Scouts and Old Northamptonians.
The aim was to show how rugby can bring communities together for a greater purpose, and to take on a challenge after all that Kim has had to face since May last year.
The challenge was completed in 11 hours and Kim said: “I was an emotional wreck, it was just lovely. Tim has been such a massive support for me and he has seen what I have gone through.
“Tim wanted to show his support by challenging himself. All four of them wanted to do it for me and how strong I have been.”
When asked how it feels that more than £1,300 has been raised for charity, Kim said: “It’s absolutely amazing and we were gobsmacked. We can give back to a charity that helped us massively during our time of need.”