A BRAVE grandmother who is fighting bone cancer is set to complete a mammoth fundraising event despite her frail condition.

Mavis Pye, 70, is so fragile that last month she broke her arm trying to open a jar of jam.

But the determined former Blackburn Cathedral secretary said she will complete the Pennine Lancashire 10K with the help of two of her grandchildren pushing her in her wheelchair.

Mrs Pye, who lost her husband John in January, said the build-up to the event is helping her to ‘keep going’ and focus on something positive.

Her grandchildren Laura and Adam Tyson will assist her on the day as will daughter Alison, who is registered as Mrs Pye’s carer.

She said: “My situation with the cancer is very daunting but I have a lovely family who are supporting me.

“The 10k event is going to be a very tough and I have no idea if we will complete it but we are going to have a very good go.

"I tire very easily and I will be relying on the help of two friends and two of my grandchildren as well.”

Mrs Pye, who lives in Brownhill and is the chair of the local Cancer Research fundraising group, will be raising funds for the charity as well as the East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn, where she visits every Wednesday.

Mrs Pye was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and after a mastectomy she said she thought she was in the clear.

But earlier this year doctors found that the cancer had returned to her bones.

She said: “At the moment it is affecting my walking but I am trying to maintain a level of lifestyle that keeps me happy.

“I have to take it one day at a time at this stage because all of a sudden I am faced with living a life I find very hard to adapt to.

“I used to do a lot of walking and was a member of the cathedral walking club. This time last year I was heading off on nine-mile walks in the Lake District."

The Pennine Lancashire 10k is expected to raise up to £300,000 for local charities in its first year and will be one of the biggest such events in the North West.

It has been organised by Run For All, a charity set up in memory of fundraiser Jane Tomlinson, who raised thousands of pounds in running challenges while fighting cancer.

More than 5,000 people are exepcted to take part in the run through Blackburn.