TikTok star who shared cancer journey completes Tough Mudder

Daily Record

24-06-2025

Erin Lavery battled through the 5km course at Strathclyde Park with the help of her friends in her first big physical challenge since receiving the all-clear.
After defeating cancer Erin Lavery's latest challenge was completing Tough Mudder – and the brave Cambuslang woman smashed that too.
The 22-year-old battled through the 5km course at Strathclyde Park with the help of her friends in her first big physical challenge since receiving the all-clear.
And although she wasn't sure if she would be able to complete the endurance event, Erin crossed the finish line with a beaming smile.
She said: 'It was fab, we loved it; we had such a good day. It's such a good atmosphere, supportive, and the amount of people that come out and watch and cheer you on round the sides, there was so many people. Even though it was absolutely pouring, there was still tonnes of people out cheering us on, it's just such a good atmosphere.'
Erin was taking part as an ambassador for ScottishPower's partnership with Cancer Research UK and led almost 100 ScottishPower employees taking on the obstacle course.
She continued: 'I was still supposed to be doing treatment at this point, so my friends had booked to do it in honour of me type of thing, so they've all been fundraising and I just kind of joined in as a wee late entry after ScottishPower had got in touch.
'This was the first test of my energy levels, my fitness, because I was like, 'yeah I'll do it', but I wasn't actually sure if I was going to be able to finish it or how far I'd get – but it all went really well. So I wasn't fundraising personally, but the girls all done it.'
ScottishPower began a partnership with Cancer Research UK back in 2012, and since then have raised £40 million for the charity.
Together they have raised millions through initiatives like the energy provider's Help Beat Cancer energy tariff, and by sponsoring Race for Life events across the UK and supporting Stand Up To Cancer.
It's estimated that nearly one in two people in the UK will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime and ScottishPower are trying to help Cancer Research UK so that, one day, people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.
And after becoming aware of Erin's cancer journey, which she has shared with tens of thousands of followers on social media, the firm reached out to her to take part in Pretty Muddy as an ambassador for Cancer Research UK.
Erin said: 'It was actually the CEO of customer business at Scottish Power, Andrew Ward, who told me at the weekend that he and his wife have been following along – they've watched a lot of my videos – and then there was a few people in the team who had seen some of the stuff and thought I'd be a good fit for it, and once we got chatting it all went ahead.'
Erin, who had suffered from childhood asthma, didn't too think much of a cough which first appeared in October 2023.
But the following month she discovered a lump on her neck and made an appointment with her GP to have it checked.
Doctors thought her symptoms were down to a swollen lymph mode and iron deficiency, but Erin's symptoms became steadily worse over the next seven months as she suffered from migraines, dizziness and tiredness.
After several months of trying to carry on as normal Erin was forced to stop working for periods of time and asked to be referred to a hospital and underwent a biopsy.
An initial hospital appointment was made for July 2024 and by that August, Erin had undergone her first biopsy, but while waiting for the results she became even more ill. She began chemotherapy and then earlier this year shared to her social media followers that she had defeated Stage 3 Hodgkin lymphoma.
With over 70,000 followers on TikTok and another 20,000 on Instagram, Erin has been documenting her cancer journey as well as offering insight and advice to others.
She said: 'I like the idea of more people finding my page, especially my TikTok, I've got a lot of videos of me getting my treatment and as someone who's going through treatment it's good to watch those types of videos. So I think it's good for that, but I also have a lot of people who follow me that are in the cancer world or touched by it in some way, so sharing with them the charities and businesses that are out doing that kind of stuff, I think it's good to share that side of it as well.
'It's been crazy. I still even now receive multiple messages a day of people that are going though treatment saying the videos have helped them, because it's quite an anxious thing, when you don't know what to expect, that kind of thing. So I think me walking them right though it, and showing them, because I think it's hard as well, you don't really know how sick you're going to become. So I explained everything. I was feeling very open so I think people being able to see that obviously does kind of ease their worries a wee bit. I've just received a crazy amount of messages from people, and it's just lovely knowing that I'm able to help in that way,'
And the reaction from her thousands of followers, has been a positive experience for Erin, who added: 'It's been good from all angles, I've received so much support throughout from people that have followed along, but also being able to help others during it gave me something to focus on. It's been the best thing for me, for sure.
'I think it's showing a different side now; obviously, although I'm cancer free, there's still a lot of recovery to do, so it's raising awareness of that. Although you can be cancer free there's things that can still be difficult, so there's a different side to it but it will always be something I want to talk about and share with people.'
And she added: 'The Beatson are still super involved and if I need anything it's so easy to get in touch with them; they'd offer me so much but it's a balance.
'I still need their support a lot but I'm also trying to find stuff myself and get that wee bit more independence back, so it's a mixture for sure but the support the Beatson provide is just insane.'
Erin is not yet back working full-time as a nail technician, and continued: 'My first thing was, I want to get my fitness back, so I've been starting off with a fitness routine and getting that sorted, getting back, because I didn't eat a lot of the time throughout my treatment, so I'm trying to put weight on.
'I'm very focused on my health first and then once I feel a bit more settled, because I'm self-employed it's quite hard, it's going to be a big jump going back to it all, so I want to wait until I've got a bit more life routine settled and then I'll get back into it but I'm excited to get back there.'
Erin added: 'All the way through, even when I was getting the treatment, I didn't want it to be a bad thing. Obviously it's hard but I still wanted to make sure that I was having a good time and I was happy where I was, and now that I am cancer free and that stress has gone.
'I'm excited for literally everything. Even the days when I'm doing nothing, I love that, but also the thought of getting back to work, the thought of going on holiday again, literally life just feels so exciting.'
Cancer Research UK say that every year around 34,600 people are diagnosed with cancer in Scotland.
Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that starts in white blood cells called lymphocytes and the main treatments for Hodgkin lymphoma include chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
And the charity also said there are 320 new cases of cancer in children and young people a year in Scotland.
Speaking about discovering she had cancer, Erin said: 'It took about eight months for me to be diagnosed. I was sick for about a year beforehand so that was something I learned very early on, because I actually had every symptom of lymphoma when I was going to the doctors, and they hadn't picked it up, so that is something where I can teach people the symptoms and learning that when you do feel something like that you need to be pushy.
'Even if you're getting answers from the doctors it doesn't always mean that they're correct and if it doesn't feel right to keep going and make sure that you're advocating for your health, so that was definitely something throughout that I've been trying to push.
'I made quite a lot friends. That was something as well I wanted to post about, because obviously this age group is kind of very, it's almost missed, the media and stuff like that, people don't really think of young adults with cancer, it's always kids or older people, so when I started posting I connected with quite a few people that had the same idea as me and I've made some really good friends through it and it does help when it's someone the same age as you that you can chat to about these things.'
ScottishPower are continuing their partnership with Cancer Research UK and you can also help them to do more by joining over 400,000 customers and switching to the energy provider's Help Beat Cancer tariff. For every month you're on the tariff, they will donate to the charity on your behalf.
And during COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, ScottishPower announced an ambition to help Cancer Research UK shine a light on the role air pollution plays in the development of cancer. They covered the cost of a Cancer Research UK study, which has helped researchers explain the link between lung cancer and non-smoking-related factors.
The ScottishPower website says: 'But we want to do more. That's why we've committed up to £4 million to support Cancer Research UK's Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence for the next five years.
'It is hoped this funding will help to transform UK lung cancer research by allowing Cancer Research UK to increase momentum and build a sustainably funded research community around lung cancer – the third most common form of cancer in the UK and the most common cause of cancer death – with the ultimate aim of improving outcomes for lung cancer patients.'
For her part, Erin supports the partnership work between ScottishPower and Cancer Research UK, saying: 'I think whatever future things they have planned I will definitely get involved. I genuinely do think they're such a great company and the things that've done is just amazing.
'All that money obviously does go to cancer research. Finding treatments and cures is something I'm just so passionate about so I think we definitely do have the same values, and I think they're great.'
And after her experience doing Pretty Muddy, Erin would encourage any charity fundraisers to give it a go, adding: 'There's still tonnes of events. That one has passed now, but you can go onto their website and there's pretty much always an event planned and they're everywhere, so people are going to be able to find one near them too.'
Search 'erinlaveryx' on Instagram and 'erin_lav' on TikTok to find Erin.
For more on how ScottishPower are helping Cancer Research UK, and how you can get involved, visit www.scottishpower.co.uk/about-us/cancer-research-uk.