A Lanarkshire man will tackle the Edinburgh Marathon this weekend in an emotional tribute to his late girlfriend.
Caroline Cassidy was just 34 when she passed away from cancer in 2019.
Now her boyfriend Martin Gorman is taking part in Sunday's event in the capital to raise funds for the Make 2nds Count charity, and also to make people aware of secondary breast cancer.
Martin, from Rutherglen, told Lanarkshire Live : "I always thought she was going to beat it.
"Cara was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a full year of treatment. I remember she had what we thought was her last round of treatment between Christmas and New Year at the end of 2018.
"It felt like she had gone through it all and was going to be okay. But she kept getting sore heads for a few months afterwards and A&E couldn't get to the bottom of it.
"I noticed there was slight changes to her memory too, she's forget a few things here and there.
"We went for an MRI scan and they told us the cancer had spread to her brain. It was such a shock after thinking it was all over."
Caroline, who worked as a carer, underwent further treatment, but the cancer had spread too far. She was placed on palliative care, and three weeks after returning to her home, she passed away on June 2, 2019.
Since Caroline's death, Martin has thrown himself into trying to raise both funds and awareness regarding secondary breast cancer.
He added: "There can be a lot of false hope with cancer and a lot of people don't understand the differences between breast cancer and secondary breast cancer.
"There are over 35,000 people in the UK who have secondary breast cancer, but only a small amount of cancer funding goes towards it.
"So I've tried to do what I can - we've had Hallowe'en events as Cara always loved Hallowe'en. I wasn't in a good place after she died, but I needed to keep going for her.
"I look at it like somebody didn't get a chance to live their life, so I'm going to make the most of being lucky enough to do this."
Martin, who works as a joiner, was given advice by Stevie Kidd, a business and life coach.
He suggested Martin take part in a Reach Your Peak event, which saw Martin join a group that climbed five Munros one after the other.
From there, Martin has taken an interest in running and endurance sports, which has led him to take part in the Edinburgh marathon this weekend.
He admitted: "I'm petrified by the challenge and how I'll do! But I do like endurance things and I'll give it a good go."
Martin is fundraising for the Make 2nds Count charity, who aim to raise awareness and fund medical research that will contribute to advancing an increased quality of life for patients with secondary breast cancer.
He's already raised just under £1000 for the good cause and donations can be made here while further information about Make 2nds Count can be found here.
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