A DORSET woman has become a beacon of hope for other women battling cancer.

Sarah Grindle was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was just 32.

She had dismissed her symptoms as normal, and, three years on, she hopes her story will deter other women from “burying their heads in the sand”.

The mum-of-two is also encouraging people in Dorset to support Cancer Research UK’s Shine nighttime event to fund research into a variety of cancers.

Sarah, who lives with her husband and two children, Cerys, eight, and Dylan, nine, in Blandford, believed she was suffering nothing more than bad period pains and her GP prescribed pain killers.

Further tests revealed she had ovarian cancer.

She underwent a hysterectomy in May 2011 followed by several months of chemotherapy.

Sarah continues to have six monthly check-ups and although she can still feel tired and nauseated at times, she is doing well. She said: “It was a shock being told I had ovarian cancer.

“I always associated it with older women. Mine was not picked up quickly enough and I want other women to know a smear test can save your life. Women should get any little aches and pains checked out.

“Women do bury their heads in the sand. They think it is not going to happen to them.

“I certainly didn’t think it could happen to me at 32.”

Sarah, a retail assistant, is taking part in Shine for the first time with a group of friends.

Some are doing the full marathon and others, like Sarah, are doing the half-marathon.

She has raised £2,000 and hopes to collect more through a series of fundraising events.

Shine will take place overnight from Saturday, September 28 to Sunday 29, starting and finishing from Battersea Power Station.

Participants can choose to fund research into new treatments for all cancers or one of 12 specific types, including ovarian.

Entry closes on September 15.

To enter or to sign up as a volunteer, visit shinewalk.org