A Dumfries woman is getting ready for a marathon fundraiser in Dumfries this weekend for a cause close to her heart.
Abbie McCallay was 14 when she needed surgery after being diagnosed with a benign brain tumour which was discovered following a fall from a horse.
The 25-year-old physiotherapist is now raising money for the Brain Tumour Trust.
Tomorrow, Abbie and a team of pals will walk 26 miles around Dumfries for the charity.
She said: “I was diagnosed with a benign astrocytoma when I was 14.
“It was just a bit surreal. I felt like it was a bit of a dream. At 14 you just get on with it you don’t realise how big a deal it is.
“Now working where I do I think ‘god that’s pretty scary’ but at the time I thought I’d just get on with it.
“I used to get migraines but so did my mum and my grandmother and I just thought it was a hereditary. It wasn’t until I fell off my horse that I found out.
“I hurt my shoulder and my knee and came to A&E and they said I was fine and sent me home. The next day I was sick and wasn’t well. My mum, who’s a nurse, phoned the doctor on her ward and they CT scanned my head and I found out the next day. It was a bit of a whirlwind.”
After a charity ball was scuppered twice by the pandemic, Abbie and her friends decided on the walk as an alternative and have already been sponsored to the tune of £1,200 online.
She said: “This year is 11 years since my brain tumour and I wanted to do something to mark it.
“So one of my friends came up with the idea to walk a marathon. We’re starting at Dock Park at 8am and going around Dumfries and hopefully finishing at Slipstream at about 6pm.
To donate please go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/abbie-mccallay.
