Cancer survivor to host charity nights

A former nurse is marking 20 years of being in remission and thinking she would never reach old age by hosting two fundraiser nights.

- Madeleine Raine

Karin Manchester, 65, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) 20 years ago but has thankfully been in remission since receiving treatment.

AML is a rare and fast-acting type of blood cancer, with only around 2,900 people being diagnosed with it in the UK every year according to Cancer Research UK.

Karin, from Hartlepool, had recently qualified as a nurse when she was diagnosed with leukaemia in August 2004 at the age of 44.

She said: “I went on holiday and it was two weeks of hell.

"I had bruises everywhere, I was bleeding, I had a rash everywhere.