A teenager who started boarding school the day after her mother was diagnosed with cancer is organising a Race For Life around the school.

Clifton House captain Georgia Chisnall, 17, joined Cobham Hall just after her mother Lori got the heartbreaking news.

She said: “Race for Life is an event which I have had aspirations of organising for the majority of my time at Cobham Hall. It holds extreme emotion and meaning for me.

“A year after my mother’s diagnosis, I entered a Race for Life competition and I will love sharing this fight against cancer, and celebration of medical research advancement, with those at Cobham Hall.

“I am very grateful that the Student Leadership Team has taken this on and hope that this will allow for it to be bigger and better than I ever could have imagined.”

Thanks to ongoing medical advancements, Mrs Chisnall survived the disease and gave an assembly to share her experience of fighting cancer, and how the disease has affected many members of her family.

She said that was why taking part in fundraising was so important, adding: “There are thousands of families, thousands of stories like ours, and events like this really do make a difference.”

The schoolgirls’ parents and siblings have been invited to join staff and pupils for the run tomorrow (Sunday).

The Student Leadership Team is also getting staff more involved by requesting they integrate the topic of cancer into their lessons; from the biological side in science lessons, to the history of medicine and statistics of cancer survival in maths.

The girls are also hosting a cake stall on the day.

Rachel Carr, of Race for Life, said: “Young people today are the generation who could see ground-breaking treatments and cures for cancer in their lifetime. They will be the researchers and lifesavers of tomorrow. But first, we need them to be the fundraisers of today – and walk, jog and run to help beat cancer sooner.”