A cancer survivor who first noticed a lump when a cheerleading move backfired is fundraising for the charity that saved her.

Linzi Radwell, 24, from Broadstairs, was practicing for a competition with her university cheerleading squad the Solent Ravens when a team mate fell on her, knocking her to the ground.

While checking herself for injuries she discovered a lump in her neck that she hadn’t been aware of before.

After six months of chemotherapy, which she juggled with lectures and coursework, Miss Radwell was told she had responded well to the treatment and the cancer had gone.

The former Dane Court Grammar School pupil said: “Initially the lump started to get smaller so I put off going to the doctors.

"But after a month had passed and it was still there, I thought I would have to bite the bullet, just for my own piece of mind.

“The GP took one look and straight away sent me for an X-ray and ultrasound scan. He said he was 90 per cent sure it was lymphoma.

“Because the lump was big I had an operation for it to be removed.

"By New Year’s Eve the test results had come through and I was told I had Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

"I had been prepared for it and I hadn’t made any plans for the night because I thought it would be bad news but it still didn’t seem real. I couldn’t believe it was happening to me.”

Miss Radwell was a third year journalism student at Southampton and Solent University when she was diagnosed in 2012.

She took the decision to try and continue with studying, with the support of her mum Isobel and step dad Duncan Browning, despite fortnightly chemotherapy sessions at Southampton Hospital.

The 24-year-old said: “It was a big decision because I think my mum and stepdad would have preferred me to move back home to stay with them.

"But I was determined to try and graduate with the rest of the year and they realised that keeping to a routine was important.

"My hair fell out and I had really bad mouth ulcers but I tried to work as hard as I could..." Linzi Radwell

“Mum would come to the hospital with me every other Monday and then go home and I’d stay in my shared house in Polygon and concentrate on studying and lectures.

“My hair fell out and I had really bad mouth ulcers but I tried to work as hard as I could. People on my course would say that if I could do it, then they could too.”

Miss Radwell finished treatment in June 2013 and was able to catch up on the university work she had missed leading up to her diagnosis. She graduated with the rest of her class in November.

She said: “I think having a focus really helped me to get through it.

"It all feels like a bit of a blur now – like it didn’t really happen but I do feel proud of what I’ve overcome and what I’ve achieved.”

In 2014 she teamed up with her school friend Katie Birch to take part in Margate Race for Life 5k.

Miss Radwell added: “Running over the finish line really helped me feel like I’d come to the end of my experience and that it was now all in the past.

"Seeing my boyfriend Simon, and my family’s faces at the end meant everything to me. I felt like I had a fresh start.

“I do still worry that it could come back - in the shower I’m always looking out for more lumps – but now I just feel like I’m getting on with my life.”

Now she is launching Maidstone Race for Life Pretty Muddy and is calling on women of all shapes and sizes to join her at the 5k obstacle course which takes place on Sunday, July 10, at Mote Park.

Miss Radwell said: “When I was told I had cancer, my whole world was turned upside down. But thanks to research, I’m now cancer free. I’m determined to help others by raising money so Cancer Research UK can help even more people survive."