“I WAS lucky, very lucky. Things like this change your whole life and make you realise what is important.

“I suspect that one day it may try to get me again but until then I am going to make the most of my life and do as many of the things I’d like to as possible.”

Those are the words of mum-of-three Carolyn Hopkinson, who was told following a cervical smear test that she had seriously abnormal cells – the most vigorous form before they become cancerous.

Yet in September the 47-year-old and her sister Sarah Bennett, aged 45, from Hale, will embark on an eight-day trek along the Great Wall of China in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Carolyn received the heartbreaking news that she was at risk of getting the illness in 1997, at aged 34.

Three weeks after the abnormal cells were found she underwent a hysterectomy.

Carolyn, joint owner of a property management company, said: “At that point we also did not know if my ovaries were ok or not so I remember saying to the surgeon ‘just cut out all the manky bits because I just want to be around to be with my children’.”

She was motivated to raise as much money as possible for charity, which provides end-of-life care for terminally ill people, after the reality TV star Jade Goody dies from the illness.

“It reminded me that I am still here and I can do something to make even more of a difference to people who haven’t been as lucky as me by raising as much as I can for this charity,” she said.

Sarah, a kick-boxer who has competed in triathlons, agreed to complete the challenge with her older sister.

The pair, who used to argue when they were younger, will be testing each other’s patience by sharing a small tent each night.

The mission will start on September the 12 and the siblings will walk for six to eight hours each day.

The fundraisers are financing all of their expenses but need people to help them reach their target of £5,000 for the charity.

For more information visit justgiving.com/carolynhopkinsonthehumptydumpties or donate at the town’s LloydsTSB, Alliance and Leicester, Yorkshire Building Society Bridge Street, or at Lloyds TSB in Stockton Heath.