Vanessa Kendall first noticed her running time was dipping and that she was struggling to complete her usual runs at the start of the summer 2024
A super-fit runner who blamed her slower race times on her asthma was horrified to learn the truth. Vanessa Kendall first noticed her running time was dipping and that she was struggling to complete her usual runs at the start of the summer 2024.
The mum of two claimed she ‘didn’t think much of it’ – but after her family all caught the flu in December 2024 she noticed she struggled to shake it off. The 46 year old first went to her local GP in February 2025 when her coughing became so bad she would have to mute herself on work calls.
She was diagnosed as asthmatic by a nurse and prescribed an inhaler which initially left her feeling ‘relieved’ to have an explanation for her breathing issues. The office manager said the inhaler helped for a few weeks and she continued running but, after chatting with a friend at a Park Run in June, decided to ring her GP to request a chest X-ray.
A month later, Vanessa received the heartbreaking news that she had stage four metastatic cancer that had spread from her lungs to her liver, spine, lymph nodes, kidneys and brain. Vanessa, who is mum to 16-year-old Jacob Kendall and 13-year-old Devon Kendall, underwent a three-month course of chemotherapy, where the main 5cm tumour in her lungs shrunk.
But by December 2025 she began to feel unwell. CT scans in January showed further spread with more tumours in her liver, lungs and her brain. Due to limited treatment on the NHS treatment options, Vanessa is now fundraising to get treatment privately.
Vanessa, from a town near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, said: “I’m a regular runner and I used to run two or three times a week. I took part in Park Runs every week and I noticed my time was dropping off a little bit. I wasn’t able to complete the full 5km, but didn’t think much of it.
“I did a half marathon in October before I was diagnosed and would run every Wednesday after work with a work running club. In the May school holidays we did one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks with my youngest son, we did Ingleborough, so still fit and active, so it was a massive, massive shock getting the diagnosis.
“I was initially relieved to have an asthma diagnosis but then I had a couple of asthma reviews and I just felt like it wasn’t getting any better. I was expecting to get something back from these chest X-rays that say it’s scar tissue or infection. I wasn’t expecting a cancer diagnosis at all.
“It’s just a complete freak, rare, genetic mutation, and this is why my treatment options are limited because it is one of the rarest types of lung cancer. You just feel totally lost and isolated in having to process this information. It was hugely traumatic.”
As Vanessa has a rare mutation of lung cancer called Exon 20, it means treatment is limited on the NHS so she’s now fundraising for private treatment. Vanessa, who is married to 53-year-old Paul Kendall, said: “I’m absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of support I have had already, it’s unbelievable.
“Not having that financial burden just means we can refocus our energy on getting that treatment. “We have now exhausted the line in terms of NHS treatment and the next most effective treatment is only available privately.”
You can donate to Vanessa’s GoFundMe here – https://www.gofundme.com/f/cvcs4n-vanessas-fight-with-cancer

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