By ANN FOTHERINGHAM

A FRIEND’S fight back to health after surviving an aggressive cancer inspired three colleagues to take on an epic challenge.

Glasgow business advisors Stuart Preston, Paula Fraser and Ross Lamont cycled a whopping 360 miles around all Scotland’s Maggie’s centres in just four days, raising almost £17,000 in the process.

And the woman who persuaded them to do it is delighted by their success.

“We have just a few thousand pounds more to go to hit our target of £20,000,” explained Gill Hunter, who battled bowel cancer four years ago.

“It was a fantastic achievement and I managed to join them as they rode into Glasgow!”

Gill, from Clarkston, had an aggressive stage three bowel cancer, which had spread to her lymph nodes. After spending nearly a month in hospital, most of it in the high-dependency unit, she endured two emergency operations and survived peritonitis and pneumonia before she was finally given the all-clear from the disease in May this year.

Throughout her treatment, she gained support from her family, including son and daughter Adam and Lucy, and from Maggie’s which provides emotional support, information and advice to people with cancer and their loved ones.

Gill, who works for Grant Thornton in Glasgow, took her hat off to her colleagues for completing the epic cycle challenge.

“It was absolutely huge, they are amazing,” she said.

Sharon O’Loan, Fundraising and Development Director at Maggie’s, said: “Everyone at Maggie’s has been so inspired by Gill and we’re hugely grateful to her and all our friends at Grant Thornton for their amazing fundraising.”

You can support the team through their Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/GTScotlandcyclechallenge.