A 71-YEAR-old has defied all the odds to continue as a fitness instructor ­— after beating cancer twice.

Val Edge, from Blackburn, wows people when they take her class and they discover how fit she is for her age.

The grandmother-of-three usually teaches at Trinity United Reformed Church and the Holy Souls Church Hall in Brownhill, but has since moved her classes online.

She hosts various morning and evening sessions, including exercises, dance moves and stretches, via the Learning With Experts website.

Her time as a fitness instructor has not been without difficulties, including losing husband Graham 25 years ago in an M6 crash and having ovarian cancer 10 years ago and then bowel cancer.

The mother-of-two said: “I had six months off when I had it the first time, and then it was back to keep fit. Then three years ago I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and had another six months off before coming back to work and now I am back to being the dancing queen.

“I could not move when I had bowel cancer, but I sat on a chair and taught my classes. When my husband died in 1995 I just had to keep going, his inquest wasn’t until a year later and I had just had to keep going forward.”

Mrs Edge started teaching when she was just 19, living in Cheshire. She moved to Blackburn where she married her husband in 1975 and taught at Whalley Adults Centre. She set up her own fitness classes Edge Fitness when the government stopped funding them at adult community centres in 2005.

She said: “People cannot believe how fit I am and, despite having cancer twice and losing my husband, I do not give up. I am very motivated and just keep going on no matter what. I love keeping the 64 ladies on my course going and I keep in touch with them to help them stay motivated.”

She set up an iPhone and filmed her classes before sending them to Learning With Experts, where people can buy and view 10 classes for £60. She said: "The Edges do not give up, that's our family motto."