Inspirational Edinburgh mum diagnosed with cancer aged 28 starts Cancer Research UK's Pretty Muddy at Meadows
The mum of two was guest of honour at Cancer Research UK's Race for Life Pretty Muddy Edinburgh on Sunday, June 22. She joined her partner Jason McFarlane and their daughters Zoe, six, and Abbie, one, sounding the starter horn to send 1,500 people on a 5k mud-splattered obstacle course in The Meadows.
A total of £160,000 was raised- vital funds which will enable scientists to find new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer- to bring about a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. Every year around 34,600 people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland.
Nikki, now 31, picked up a well earned medal after completing Pretty Muddy with Claire Wight, a close friend from their school days together at Tynecastle High School. Nikki said: 'I am incredibly grateful to be here to raise my two girls.
'It's hard to put in to words exactly how it feels to be healthy and surrounded by love. This summer will mark three years of me being in remission from cancer. I will forever be thankful to my family for their unwavering support and to the NHS for getting me better.
'I'm proud to be able to help others. I want to support research for people going through cancer right now and to help find better treatments for my daughters' generation.'
Nikki recalls vividly the uncertainty she felt on January 13 2022 when doctors at the Western General Hospital told her she had Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
She had first contacted her GP in December the year before after a lump had appeared near her collar bone and she had suffered symptoms including night sweats. She had an x-ray after blood tests indicated there may be an issue and only hours after the x-ray the GP called her.
Nikki said: 'I thought the x-ray results would take around 10 days to come so when my GP called me back the same day I knew the news wouldn't be good.
'They'd found a tumour on my neck and my chest. I had a biopsy on Christmas eve 2021. My daughter was only three at the time and going through Christmas waiting for those final January results was hard.'
Nikki lost her long, dark hair to the side effects of treatment. She had six months of chemotherapy in total including two stays in hospital. But on August 18, 2022, Nikki completed her final session. It took time to build back strength.
Just months later, Nikki was overjoyed to discover she was pregnant again. Her younger daughter Abbie was born on December 26, 2023. Nikki said: 'I feel so lucky.
'After treatment for cancer, I didn't even know if I'd be able to have another child but here we are blessed with our Boxing Day baby.'
Diane Graham, a volunteer from the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh superstore at Corstorphine also completed Pretty Muddy. She took part along with Cancer Research UK superstore manager Steven Storrier who celebrated his 52nd birthday over the weekend.
Steven said: 'I can think of no better way to celebrate my birthday. Almost every day in the superstore people share with us their reasons for supporting Cancer Research UK. I am in awe of our customers who do so much to support the charity. Pretty Muddy is a chance for me to give a little bit back.'
Cancer Research UK's Race for Life, in partnership with headline sponsor Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, is an inspiring series of 3k, 5k, 10k, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research.
Now organisers are sending a heartfelt message of thanks to everyone who put their best feet forward as well as their supporters. And they're appealing for people to make every step count by paying in sponsorship money as soon as possible.
Lisa Adams, Cancer Research UK's spokesperson in Scotland, said: 'We are incredibly grateful to everyone who took part in Pretty Muddy Edinburgh.
'No matter how cancer affects us, life is worth racing for. Sadly nearly 1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime, but all of us can support the research that will beat it. We're proud that Race for Life has had such a positive impact. Every pound raised supports our life-saving work, which has helped double cancer survival in the UK over the last 50 years.
'It was a fantastic day at Pretty Muddy Edinburgh, full of emotion, courage, tears, laughter and hope as people celebrated the lives of those dear to them who have survived cancer and remembered loved ones lost to the disease.
'Now we're asking everyone who took part to return the money they're raised as soon as possible. Every donation, every pound raised will make a real difference.'
Since it began in 1994, more than 10 million people have taken part in Race for Life, contributing millions of pounds towards life-saving research.
Cancer Research UK funded scientists led the development of the Human Papillomavirus Virus vaccine, which is expected to prevent almost 90 per cent of cervical cancers in the UK.
Andy Curran, Chief Executive of Standard Life, part of Phoenix Group, said: 'We are incredibly proud to continue as headline sponsor for Cancer Research UK's Race for Life, with the opportunity to encourage participation across the country.
'By working to raise funds for life-saving research, we can move towards a future where people live longer and better lives, free from the fear of cancer.'
Race for Life events take place across the country and are open to all ages and abilities. It includes events everywhere from Aberdeen to Ayr, Falkirk to Fife, Edinburgh, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness To enter, visit raceforlife.org
1 . And away they go
Nikki Milligan who overcame cancer aged 28 sounded the starter horn to send 1,500 people on the 5k mud-splattered obstacle course in the Meadows. Nikki also took part in Pretty Muddy along with Claire Wight her best friend since their school days at Tynecastle High. | Lesley Martin/Lesley Martin Photography Photo Sales
2 . Crossing the finish line
Nikki, now 31, from Edinburgh picked up a well earned medal after completing Pretty Muddy on Sunday, June 22. Inset: Nikki, pictured during remission. | Lesley Martin Photo Sales
3 . The mud slide
People taking part in Cancer Research UK Pretty Muddy in The Meadows, Edinburgh. | Lesley Martin/Lesley Martin Photography Photo Sales
4 . Ready to go
Hundreds of people took part in Pretty Muddy at the Meadows, Edinburgh, on Sunday, June 22. | Lesley Martin/Lesley Martin Photography Photo Sales
Related topics: Cancer Research UK
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
This 10-year plan may be the last chance to save the NHS
The 10-year plan for the National Health Service that Sir Keir Starmer is expected to publish in the next few days is likely to be a somewhat incoherent document. From the advance publicity, it would seem to have a lot of disconnected ideas in it, some good, some not so good and some irrelevant. The government hopes that weight-loss drugs will offer the hope of a big advance against obesity-related illnesses – but this comes after new figures raised concerns about their safety. If large language models can speed up the development of new pharmaceuticals, so much the better. But we remain sceptical about whether supermarkets ought to be recruited into policing their customers' calorie intakes. What will decide the success or failure of the NHS over the next decade, however, will be the design of the structural reforms to the service. Wes Streeting, the health and social care secretary, has made a good start in two respects. He has welcomed private-sector providers to help deliver NHS services free at the point of need, and he has taken an axe to the central bureaucracy of NHS England. The test for the 10-year plan will be the extent to which it brings in further changes to incentives throughout the NHS so that it becomes responsive to patients. Sir Jim Mackey, the new chief executive of the NHS, says many of the right things. 'It feels like we've built mechanisms to keep the public away because it's an inconvenience,' he says in his first interview since taking up the post three months ago. He says of the current NHS: 'It takes forever. It costs a fortune. We need to 'de-layer it' because it's expensive, it slows decision-making down, it de-powers people who need to make decisions.' The sentiment is right, but again, some of his ideas seem better than others. We are not convinced that using patient satisfaction surveys to decide how much money NHS trusts receive is going to work. The evidence of reform under the last Labour government was that the mere existence of competition from private-sector providers had a dramatic effect on the performance of NHS units. Already, there are the very early signs that the extra resources put into the NHS are bearing fruit, less than 12 months after the change of government. Luke Tryl, the opinion pollster for More in Common, reported on BBC's Newsnight on Friday that people in focus groups are starting to report positive experiences of the NHS for the first time since the pandemic. 'If there is a bright spot for the government, it's the NHS,' he said. One of the biggest challenges for Sir Jim and Mr Streeting, however, is more political than structural. They have to send the starkest message to doctors: please do not go on strike; take responsibility; show leadership; it is up to you to make the NHS work, because if it cannot be turned round this time, then it probably is the end of this model of healthcare. Sir Jim appears to understand this. He says that his 'big worry' is that if the NHS cannot deliver a service that is better at listening to patients – the particular example he gave was maternity care – 'we'll lose the population; if we lose the population, we've lost the NHS; for me, it's straightforward: the two things are completely dependent on each other.' He is absolutely right. Universal healthcare free at the point of need is a noble idea, but it desperately needs Labour's reforms to work if it is to survive.
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
I had a stroke two years ago and STILL can't swallow – help!
Got a health-related problem? Send it to Zoe, email below ASK DR ZOE I had a stroke two years ago and STILL can't swallow – help! OUR resident specialist and NHS GP, Dr Zoe Williams, shares her expert advice. Today, Dr Zoe helps a reader who is suffering from total dysphagia and wants to know which treatments are available. Advertisement 2 Dr Zoe Williams helps Sun readers with their health concerns Credit: Olivia West 2 This week a reader still does not have the ability to swallow following a stroke two years ago Q) FOLLOWING a stroke two years ago at the age of 69, I have total dysphagia and have been peg tube fed since. Everything else is back to normal except the ability to swallow but despite doing all the exercises, given by the Speech and Language Therapy team, nothing has worked. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation therapy is private and expensive. Is there any other treatment available? A) Dysphagia is the inability to swallow, which is why you have been fed via a tube into the stomach. Advertisement I'm sorry to hear that you haven't seen improvement despite support from SALT. NMES aims to retrain the nerves and muscles, and SALT exercises increase effectiveness. But it lacks sufficient robust evidence at the moment to be rolled out. However, it can be used as part of clinical trials or audits. A newer NHS-supported treatment, pharyngeal electrical stimulation, targets the throat's pharynx region. It aims to 'rewire' nerve pathways. Clinical trials (eg, the PHADER study) show it improves swallowing safety and reduces aspiration risk in stroke patients. The NHS is also currently investigating transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) aimed to reactivate swallowing centres in the brain. Advertisement Other therapies include Botox if muscle stiffness is an issue and surgery to dilate the oesophagus. Do request a multidisciplinary reassessment (neurologist and SALT) to explore your options. And do ask about NHS trials. Send your questions for Dr Zoe to: health@
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Carrie Johnson warns mothers about dehydration from hospital bed
Mrs Johnson, 37, whose fourth child with the former leader of the Conservative Party was born on May 21, said a two-night hospital stay was 'not on my postpartum bingo card'. Her warning came in a Instagram story alongside a photo of Mrs Johnson in hospital cradling baby Poppy Eliza Josephine. Britain is expected to experience another heatwave this weekend when temperatures could top 30C, with an amber heat health alert issued. Mrs Johnson wrote: 'Being hospitalised for two nights for severe dehydration was not on my postpartum bingo card.' She urged 'breastfeeding mums' to make sure they eat and drink enough, 'especially if your babe is clusterfeeding'. Advice on the NHS website tells new mothers to drink plenty of fluids and to have a drink beside them as the settle down to breastfeed. Water, lower fat milks, lower sugar or sugar-free drinks are all good choices. Mrs Johnson thanked everyone who has helped them get through a 'brutal' week. With an Amber Heat Health alert declared for the East Midlands, South East, South West, East of England and London, it's worth watching out for those who might find it difficult to cope with high temperatures. ☀️ 🌡️ Check our blog post for handy tips: — UK Health Security Agency (@UKHSA) June 27, 2025 She wrote: 'This week has honestly been brutal. 'Mastitis (me), reflux (her), dehydration (me). What a pair we are! 'But thank you for all the kind messages, especially all the brilliant advice on reflux. Really appreciate it and made me feel way less alone going thru it all. 'And as ever, thanks to our amazing NHS.' Her message comes as a second amber heat health alert in two weeks came into force on Friday. The alert, which covers London, the East Midlands, South East, South West and East of England, will last until 6pm on Tuesday. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has also issued a yellow alert for Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands for the same time period, with the agency warning of significant impacts across health and social care services.
