We’re Inspired By – Zoe Spain

Zoe can’t wait to throw herself back into competition after being given the all-clear (Photo: James Lampard)

“I’ll never forget the life-changing moment when my doctor told me I had cancer,” says Zoe Spain, a personal trainer and triathlon coach from Surrey. “I was so young and had so many things I still wanted to do with my life. So many dreams that I had yet to fulfil. I felt so helpless, lost and alone. I just cried – I thought I was going to die.”

It was in October 2011 that Zoe found out she had a tumour growing underneath her brain. Less than a month previously, the 29-year-old had competed in the British Cross Triathlon Championships at Hawley Lake in Surrey. “Ironically, I felt like I was in the shape of my life,” she says. “I raced one of my best ever races that day and managed to finish third in my age group. I was over the moon. Looking back, I remember being in a lot of pain but I just ignored it.”

“Pain was just something that I’d learned to live with since I fell off my horse in 2008 and hit my head pretty badly. I had an MRI scan, but somehow the doctors managed to miss the tumour. When medical professionals tell you there’s nothing wrong, then you don’t worry and just get on with your life, and that’s what I did for two years. Painkillers and regular visits to the physio kept the pain manageable and allowed me to train, which was all that mattered to me.”

It was only when the private physio bills started to mount up that Zoe decided to make another trip to the doctor to see if she could get some free treatment on the NHS. She was sent to Kingston Hospital the following month and it was during her initial assessment there that the doctors realised that her constant neck and back pain wasn’t just the result of her active lifestyle. “Weirdly, my tongue was the big giveaway,” says Zoe. “Whenever I stuck it out, it used to rotate 90 degrees to the left. It was normal to me, but the nurse seemed pretty shocked and gave me a CT scan.”

A couple of hours later and the results were in. The doctors had found a tumour the size of a satsuma under Zoe’s brain at the top of her spine. “I was totally shocked when they told me and just felt so vulnerable and scared,” she says. “The hardest part was that they couldn’t tell me whether I’d survive. I remember calling my partner and telling him that they’d found a growth and I could die.”

Over the next year, Zoe underwent two major operations to remove the tumour. The first involved cutting her face in half in order to access the huge growth. “Thankfully my face didn’t look too bad after the operation, and I was just grateful I was alive,” she says. “Unfortunately, the surgeons couldn’t get the whole thing out first time round so I had to endure another very risky operation two months later. This time things didn’t go quite as smoothly and the surgeons had to insert a drain in my back when fluid started seeping out of my spine. If this fluid had got onto my brain, it could have killed me. I was in so much pain after the operation that I could only lie down on one side and I couldn’t walk for a month. That was hard to deal with and I couldn’t have got through it without the support of my family and friends.”

Once she’d recovered from the surgery in intensive care, Zoe’s fight with cancer was still far from over and she spent the next eight weeks having intensive radiotherapy treatment to kill off the remains of the tumour. “Radiotherapy is so hard on you on both a mental and physical level,” she says. “It saps all of your energy and you feel tired and sick. I managed to stay pretty positive and focused, though – I knew that if I got through the treatment I stood every chance of being able to lead a normal life again.”

Zoe was finally given the all-clear in July last year and used sport, and in particular triathlon, to help rebuild her life. “Sport is my solace, my saving grace,” she says. “Pretty soon after I was given the all-clear I signed up to do the London Marathon. I needed a new focus. Cancer had consumed my life for the previous 18 months and I wanted something to look forward to. I guess I wanted to test my body again, too.”

Getting back to fitness was a long, hard struggle but Zoe had extra motivation to stay on track. “I wasn’t just doing the marathon as a personal challenge, I was also doing it to raise money for the Children with Cancer charity,” she says. “Seeing kids in hospital was horrible and I wanted to do something to help them. Training was easy compared to the fight that cancer sufferers have on their hands, so whenever I was struggling I just thought of the kids who were still in hospital fighting for their lives.”

Zoe finished the marathon in 4:20 and raised over £5,000. “I was so emotional when I crossed the finish line,” she says. “I couldn’t believe that just 10 months previously I couldn’t walk. It just goes to prove that anything really is possible.”

Looking to the future, Zoe’s goal is to become competitive again as an off-road triathlete. “I’m done with cancer now,” she says. “I’ve survived it and now I’m moving on. I know it could return but I’m not going to let that get in the way of my dreams. I’m determined to qualify as an age-grouper for the Xterra World Championship and represent Great Britain at some point. I’ve got my first event since my illness coming up in a few weeks and I can’t wait.”

So, what advice does Zoe have for others who find themselves in a similar situation? “Never give up,” she says. “Always try to stay positive and believe that you’ll get better. Life may seem awful but tomorrow is another day and you’ll get through it. Just look at me – two years ago I thought I was going to die, now I’m getting married and have so much to look forward to. Life is precious and you really don’t know when your time will be up, so it’s important to make every day count.”

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