When Cliff Edwards was diagnosed with lung cancer he was given just months to live.

But through drug treatment, he was given two extra years and in that time he was able to marry his partner of 19 years, go on honeymoon, attend his stepson’s wedding, watch the Olympics and see the last Harry Potter film.

Wife Gill, from Rainham, said: “Before this, if someone had said a drug would buy someone an extra few months of life, I would have said, ‘What’s the point?’ But the drug Cliff took changed our lives.

"In those two extra years, we went on holiday, we went to family weddings, we watched the children grow.

"Cliff went back to work and continued to run his football team and although the cancer was always there, we were able to enjoy many experiences together.”

Gill, 50, and her daughter Lily, 20, are taking part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life in Gillingham today (Sunday) at Great Lines Heritage Park to help fund research into treatment.

Cliff, a non-smoker, first became ill in 2010, suffering with back pain. Eventually, a scan showed a tumour on his spine which had spread from his lung.

Gill said: “We were told it was advanced lung cancer and that he would probably be dead within six months.”

The news turned their world upside down. The couple had been together 19 years and had recently decided to get married.

However, despite the diagnosis, Cliff was tested to see if he was suitable for treatment with a drug called Tarceva. He was. Cliff began treatment and responded well. The tumour shrank and he was able to return to his job as a team manager at Coca-Cola and go ahead with wedding plans.

Gill said: “We had a fantastic wedding day. Cliff had been able to come off his pain relief and we were on a high. We went to Vegas and Mexico on honeymoon and had a wonderful time.”

In January 2013, Cliff’s pain returned and his condition deteriorated. Tests showed the cancer had spread to his brain and he died in November that year.

Gill said: “It was a very sad ending but we had so much more time together than we were expecting. That’s why it is so important for people to keep funding research – it helps families stay together for longer.”

Medway’s Race for Life, which raises money for research into 200 types of cancer, is being held at the Great Lines Heritage Park, Gillingham, for the first time.

Gill will be taking part with daughter Lily, 20, and her dog Mitzi.

The trio, along with other family and friends, have regularly taken part in Race for Life events.

Gill said: “We never thought we would be affected by cancer. Cliff didn’t smoke but he got lung cancer. He was just unlucky. But none of us can afford to wait for cancer to strike. We have to do something about it now – all of us.

“The statistics show that one-in-two of us will be affected by it. There’s no time to waste.”