Emma Adamson

I am nominating my sister Emma Adamson to be a Torchbearer. Emma has always been an active sportswoman and was Sports Captain at high school. A week after Emma turned 18, we lost our mother to breast cancer. Emma continued with her studies and completed her A-levels, refusing to accept any additional support or grading concessions. Having passed her exams and secured a place at the University of Manchester Emma took a gap year. During this year she threw herself into fundraising for Cancer Research UK, raising over £6,500 for the charity while also working full time. Emma is now 25 and works as a buyer for Debenhams in London's Oxford Street. Despite having an extremely demanding job, she decided that she wanted to continue challenging herself through sport and applied for the London Marathon 2011. Emma was asked to raise £2,000 to run the marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support. Once again she threw herself into organising fundraising events and in total raised over £4,500 for the chairty. Emma pushed her body to the limit and she completed the marathon despite enduring agonising pain which saw her hospitalised and on crutches for two weeks afterwards. She is still receiving treatment for her injury. Watching my sister finish the marathon in absolute agony was just one of the many times in which she has demonstrated utter commitment to overcoming lifes challenges. Raising over £10k for charity at the age of 25 makes her a truely inspirational person.