GRAPHIC designer Lucy Hobbs, who works at Swallowfield in Wellington and has suffered from leukaemia, is set to put her best foot forward for Musgrove Leukaemic Group Somerset.

Lucy, 39, will be taking part in the 50km Walk to the Stones challenge on Saturday, July 13, trekking along the Chilterns, north of Reading, to a location on the north Wessex Downs.

Lucy, who was born and brought up in Wellington and attended Beech Grove and Court Fields schools, said: “It’s a physical challenge that 15 years ago I could never have imagined doing.”

Lucy went on to SCAT and Surrey Institute of Art and Design after finishing school, but in her last year at university in 2001 was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

Mum Julie House was working as an holistic therapist for the haematology oncolgy department at Musgrove at the time and Dad Jonathan as a radiographer at the hospital.

Julie said: “To have our daughter being treated there was something we could never have prepared for.”

But after four months of hospital treatment and several months of recovery Lucy went back to finish her Graphic Design degree a year later.

She went on to work and enjoy living in London but in 2004 relapsed and became critically ill with leukaemia again, enduring many complications before getting better.

During her treatment she married her fiancee Matt with wedding arrangements directed from her hospital bed – they now have two children, Iris and Elijah.

Lucy said: “I will be eternally grateful for the treatment and care I received at Musgrove Park Hospital. I am so lucky to have the life I have now, a fantastic husband and two wonderful children, who I never could have imagined having after all the treatment.

“I have chosen to complete my challenge in thanks to the Musgrove Leukaemic Group Somerset, who do amazingly important work at Musgrove Park Hospital. I know some of the fundraising they have done in the past will have directly contributed to my successful recovery.”

As an artist and graphic designer Lucy has created many art works throughout the hospital – including the Beacon Centre, which treats cancer patients – which reflects on her journey with the disease, and pieces for the children’s unit.

Lucy works in the Design department at Swallowfield and lives in Taunton with her family. Parents Jonathan and Julie live in Wellington and brother Simon in Taunton.

Anyone who would like to make a donation to Musgrove Leukaemic Group Somerset should visit Lucy’s page at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LucyHobbs4