WITH her husband battling cancer in one hospital, Dawn Spicer’s prematurely-born son Alfie was fighting for his life in another.

Praying that they would not give up, Dawn had already faced her own personal struggle against cancer.

Fortunately both father and son turned out to be real fighters – today Alfie is a healthy toddler and Craig is on the road to recovery.

Now the Spicers want to encourage women across the county to enter Race for Life to raise money for the kind of research which helped them to survive the disease.

This year, it is hoped 10,000 women and girls in Southampton and Winchester will help to raise over half a million pounds for Cancer Research UK’s vital work in tackling the disease which affects 41,000 people in the south east every year.

After already losing a baby, 33- year-old Dawn, who had a large part of the neck of her womb removed due to cancer, feared she was unlikely to be able to carry another baby.

However, she got pregnant again following IVF treatment and just as a scan confirmed she was having a boy, Craig started to feel unwell.

As his health quickly deteriorated, he began to wonder if he would live to see his son born. He had lost two stone and was extremely frail.

He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a form of lymphatic cancer – in November 2010 and began six months of chemotherapy treatment before Christmas that year.

On the night Craig was admitted to hospital, Dawn – who was just 27 weeks pregnant – was also rushed into hospital to have an emergency caesarean. Baby Alfie was taken straight into intensive care.

“While our son was battling for his life in Winchester hospital, Craig was doing the same in Southampton General Hospital,”

says Dawn. “All I could do was will them both to keep fighting and not give up”.

Although Craig, a 27-year-old physical training instructor for 2 Training Regiment Army Air Corps, could only visit Alfie occasionally, he vowed to get better for his son and the visits gave them both the strength to battle on.

“Poor Craig was beside himself,”

says Kerry Gready, a research nurse who helped to treat him. “But he responded well to treatment. He is still being monitored and will continue to have regular tests. They are a lovely couple who have both been through an emotional roller coaster ride”.

Doctors usually treat Hodgkin’s lymphoma either using chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or a combination of both. Many people are cured, but others need stronger treatment.

Craig was offered the chance to take part in a clinical trial in Southampton that was being led by Professor Peter Johnson, chief clinician and director of the city’s Cancer Research UK Centre.

The trial, which started in 2008, is trying to establish early on which patients need more intensive chemotherapy and which may be cured with less.

If it is a success it will help to improve treatment for people with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

With Cancer Research UK receiving no government funding, the money raised through Race for Life is crucial to this sort of pioneering work.

This year’s Winchester 5km event is taking place at the Garrison Ground, Bar End Road on Sunday, June 10 and the Southampton event will take place on the Common on Sunday, July 8.

For the first time, participants in Southampton will either be able to enter the traditional 5km Race for Life or select a 10km route.

Dawn has already signed up to do the latter.

“I hope the Spicer family’s moving and inspiring story will encourage mums, daughters, sisters, grandmas and friends to sign up to Race for Life,” said Rachel White, Cancer Research UK’s South Events Manager. “It’s all of us versus cancer.”

n To sign up, visit raceforlife.org or call 0871 641 1111.