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Katie Burton was once told that her cancer could affect the health of her unborn child. She is now getting fit to run the New York Marathon and has two healthy kids.
Warkworth police officer and mother of two Katie Burton will soon make good on a promise she made to herself while lying in Auckland Hospital undergoing treatment for pancreatitis.“Looking out the window, heavily pregnant and incredibly unwell, I saw runners in the Domain,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘When I get through this crap, I’m going to run!’”
Five years on, Katie will compete in the New York Marathon in October, along side TV One breakfast show host Nadine Chalmers Ross.
Katie’s health problems started when she was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 22 weeks pregnant with her second child. She had a mastectomy that same week and although it seemed successful at first, two weeks later she was told that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes.
A second surgery removed her lymph nodes, and this was followed by radiation and chemotherapy.
“My main concern was for my unborn child whose health couldn’t be guaranteed if I went ahead with the treatment,” she says.
“When Annabelle was born she had two arms, two legs and a great set of lungs, which was a huge relief. Not only that, but she was born with more hair than her mother!”
After Annabelle’s birth, Katie started “plodding” until she was fit enough to run her first half marathon in 2012.
“I’ve never been a long distance runner but I thought surely if I can survive cancer, I can get through a marathon,” she says.
“Running is like meditating for me. I can get in a zone with no phone, no kids and no husband. I think having time to yourself as a mum is so important.”
In preparation for New York, Katie is training six days a week doing cycling, deep-water running, weight training and running.
“I’m lucky to be still here,” she says. “To run in New York is an opportunity I could never have dreamed of lying in my hospital bed five years ago.
“My journey has taught me that we don’t know how strong we are until being strong is the only choice. It’s an important message that I want to spread to others who find themselves in this same awful situation.”
Katie is being supported by the AUT Millennium Institute for the Achilles Foundation, but is also seeking sponsorship through a Give A Little page at givealittle.co.nz/cause/katieburton7
