‘I miss her every day’ - Woman near Banbury to run London Marathon in memory of friend who died from cancer

Fiona McAlpine, 50, from Duns Tew, will take on the famous race in memory of Pandora Cooper Key and to raise money for research into the cancer that took Pandora’s life.

Fiona and Pandora both suffered from the same sarcoma cancer as young women, and their shared experience brought them closer together.

During her teenage years, Fiona says she had pains in her knee and a slight swelling, but whenever she mentioned it to her doctor, she was told not to worry.

Fiona said: “I was dismissed but it was my boyfriend at the time who kept telling me that something wasn’t right.”

After breaking her leg during a skiing accident at the age of 14, a family friend who was a doctor decided to operate on Fiona’s knee to see what was going on.

During the operation, the doctor discovered Fiona had a tumour in her leg and removed it immediately.

A year later, in January 1996, Fiona, then just 22, was told the shocking news that she had synovial sarcoma.

This led her to undergo a second operation to remove more tissue and lymph nodes from her groin area.

Thankfully, the operation was a success, and her cancer did not reoccur, but the experience left a mark on her psychologically.

Fiona said: “It had a horrendous impact on me as a young person. Of course, there is never a good age to have cancer, but the late teens and early 20s are a particularly difficult age to go through it.

“I felt incredibly isolated, and it took me two years to get back on track. But I decided that this wasn’t going to be my life.”

Fiona's and Pandora’s paths had crossed as young women, but their friendship hit it off when they bumped into one another at a hospital while both were waiting for treatment for sarcoma.

The pair then became very close, with Fiona saying: “She was an amazing friend; she never complained despite the different types of cancer she had. She was always most magnanimous.”

Pandora tragically went on to have a variety of cancers, including being diagnosed with sarcoma six weeks after the birth of her first child.

Pandora, who had Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which increases the risk of cancer, sadly died at the age of 51 in July 2024.

Fiona said: “The last time I saw her, she was fragile and tired, but I didn’t think it would be the last time I would see her.

“She faced her future in the most dignified way in the face of so much adversity, always smiling, never complaining. I miss her every day.”

Now Fiona, who is a mother of four children, will take on her first ever marathon to raise money and awareness for the charity Sarcoma UK.

She said: “This is completely out of my comfort zone – and if my darling Pandora were here, she would think I was absolutely potty. From 28 April, I will never run again!

“I was fortunate to receive treatment, but so many others continue to face this battle with fewer options and less hope than they deserve.”

To support Fiona’s fundraiser for Sarcoma UK, visit: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/fiona-mcalpine