A CANCER patient who dedicated her life to fundraising when her teenage sister died from the disease has reached the final of a competition to find Britain’s best mother.

Michelle Thompson, from the North Road area of Darlington, will go head-to-head with five other mothers tomorrow in the final of the Wondermum competition, run by The Sun newspaper.

The mother-of two began a £30,000 fundraising drive when her sister, Jeanette, died of cancer in 1995, aged 18.

But the 41-year-old stepped up her efforts after she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2003, an illness she kept secret from her children throughout her treatment.

Since then, Mrs Thompson has completed several challenges to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

She has hiked the Inca trail in Peru, cycled 500 miles across Vietnam in eight days and has run three Great North Runs.

But despite her fundraising heroics, she says she is not an athletic person.

She said: “If I can go climbing mountains and cycle across Vietnam, so can anyone.

“I had not ridden a bike since I was 12. I am not fit, it was just sheer determination.”

Mrs Thompson, whose cancer has been in remission since 2004, said her illness had given her a fresh outlook on life.

She said: “I would not say the cancer was the best thing to ever happen to me, but it certainly was not the worst.

“No matter what life throws at you, you can get through it. It is your way of dealing with it which makes the difference.”

Mrs Thompson was nominated for the award by her daughter, Emily, 16, who said in the nomination: “While she does all this amazing work for charity and the community, she still finds the time to be a true role model and awesome mother. She teaches me and my brother to be the best that we can be, and that if we put our minds to the task at hand, we can do whatever we want in life, and she really is testament to that statement.

“She is truly inspirational, coming from a small Yorkshire village (Appleton Wiske) to climbing mountains in Peru and cycling across Vietnam, losing a sister to cancer, and beating it herself; helping the community in so many ways, and being the best mother possible, by doing the best she can.

“I believe she deserves this award so much, because she truly is, in every single way, a wondermum.”

Mrs Thompson also runs a fundraising group in Darlington, and plays an active role in the North Road community, including writing about local events for The Northern Echo.

She is now urging others to get behind Macmillan Cancer Support by volunteering.

The organisation has only five volunteers in County Durham. It will hold an event on Tuesday, June 2, at Derwent Manor, near Consett, in an attempt to get others to help.

To attend the event, call Michelle Muir on 01325-370870.

To vote for Mrs Thompson in the Wondermum competition, call 0906-654-2210 or text VOTE 1 to 61008.