Marathon legend Paula Radcliffe has opened up about the “horrible” experience of watching her daughter Isla undergo chemotherapy, calling it “the hardest thing a parent can go through”. A decade after Radcliffe’s last London Marathon, her 18-year-old daughter, who battled cancer in 2020, is set to run her first marathon in London.
During lockdown, the 51-year-old running legend noticed Isla’s worrying symptoms, including stomach pains and breathlessness, prompting a visit to the paediatrician. “It then moved very quickly. On the Tuesday she visited the doctor, we had a scan on the Wednesday and one week later we were already in the hospital starting the first round of chemo,” Radcliffe shared with Radio Times.
Reflecting on the gruelling treatment, she said: “It’s the hardest thing a parent can go through. You can support them and be with them the whole way through, but you can’t do that chemo for them.
“It’s horrible to watch your child suffering through that, but at the same time we believed that if it felt bad, it was killing the cancer.
“There are things you’re not ready for – either going through it or as a parent.”
Radcliffe also touched on the uncertainty surrounding Isla’s future, particularly her prospects of becoming a parent. The world-record holder has another child, a son named Raphael, with her husband Gary Lough, and she spoke candidly about how Isla’s health battle affected the entire family.
“There was a huge amount of mother’s guilt for the fact that you have to focus more on one child for that period of time,” she admitted.
Paula Radcliffe will be joining the BBC commentary team for the upcoming marathon this Sunday. She shared her feelings about the event, saying, “It’s an extremely emotional place to be anyway, when you see people turn that corner on the Mall and they realise they’ve done it
“But when it’s your little girl doing it, that’s going to be a bit more emotional.”
In a candid revelation on The Move Against Cancer Podcast in 2021, Radcliffe discussed her daughter Isla’s health struggles, revealing that she had gone through three rounds of chemotherapy, which was “really hard” on the family. Radcliffe is celebrated for her illustrious running career, including three wins each at the London and New York marathons, as well as clinching the 2002 Chicago Marathon.
She recently made a comeback to marathon running after 10 years at the Tokyo Marathon in March and also competed in the Boston Marathon on Monday.
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