WHEN former cancer patient Vanessa Price got married, there wasn't a wedding present in sight!

Instead, she asked family and friends to put their hands in their pockets and help a number of causes close to her heart.

Now, thanks to her generosity and various fundraising events, a cheque for £8,300 has been handed over to Middlesbrough General Hospital.

And for Mrs Price it represents one big thank-you. "I am one of the lucky ones," she said. "I am here."

Mrs Price, who lives at Hornby, near Northallerton, was diagnosed with bone cancer on her face in October 2000. She was just 34.

The bad news came around the time of her birthday. "I was feeling tired," she said. "I had recently had a Caesarean and had this tiny baby. I actually fell asleep during an MRI scan.

"The left-hand side of my bottom lip was numb, but I had put this down to being pregnant or hormones, as I did with some bleeding from the gums. I was not fazed.

"Then, when the baby was two weeks old, I was on the phone to a friend who is a nurse and I leaned on my chin and noticed a lump. The friend said I should check it out."

That was the start. Apparently, this type of cancer is very rare. But, oddly enough, her GP had seen one other similar case. Normally, a doctor would hardly expect to treat this once in a lifetime, she says.

Three months of massive chemotherapy followed. "It was horrendous," said Mrs Price.

Then surgeons took away two-thirds of her face and rebuilt it with the fibula from her right leg. The operation took place at Middlesbrough General Hospital. It was one of the biggest they had done, lasting 14 or 15 hours.

"All the base of my mouth had to come out and be replaced," she said. "I only have three teeth at the bottom but, believe me, I can eat! "It was major stuff."

More chemotherapy followed and Mrs Price's brother and his wife had to move in to look after the family so that her husband Steve could work.

But more was to come. Her right hip went and had to be replaced. Then, in April 2002, her thyroid went very fast, possibly through stress. And last November a metal plate in her face snapped.

"They had to cut from ear to ear," said Mrs Price. "The plate was bulky and had given me a pointed chin so I was not sorry to see it go. My chin is nowhere near as bad now. I was glad in a way.

"I have had a good couple of years, haven't I? But I feel fine now, although the thyroid could flare up again.

"It has been really hard for the children. Sometimes I had to make a conscious effort to get out of bed so I was there for them."

She sees life as pretty much a lottery these days. She has a scar running right across her neck, as they literally lifted up her face. There is also a scar on her leg and at the top of the hip.

"There is about four inches free from scarring so I have said they might as well join them all up!" she said.

Mrs Price has two children, seven-year-old Lydia and Matthew, who is two. She also has a 14-year-old stepson. She and Steve were married in 2001.

"I feel better now than I have for a long time," she said. "I felt as though I had been ill forever.

"But it has affected the way my friends think and look at their lives as they are all career women. It touches everyone."

Born in Bishopton, Mrs Price went to Polam Hall School in Darlington and has lived in the Northallerton area for about ten years.

She says there are many issues surrounding facial cancer.

"You can't hide any disfigurement. It is on public show," she said.

"There are issues around eating. You can't talk or eat in the same way as you did before.

"Some people won't eat in public, but I do it all the time. But I have had a lot of support. I was lucky, as not everyone has that."

The money which has been raised will be divided between the local charity Celebration for Life after Cancer, the oral maxillofacial department at the hospital, the holistic cancer care centre and support group Let's Face It.

"This was my way of saying thank you to all the people who saved my life," said Mrs Price. "I wanted to raise money, but also to raise awareness of facial cancer.

"It is something which needs to be promoted. People have been so generous."

Apart from the wedding, some friends from Northallerton did the Great North Run, she held a summer party at her home and her mother held a coffee morning in Richmond Town Hall. "The money just mounted up," she said.

Oral maxillofacial nurse specialist Jill Skelton said: "We can't thank Vanessa enough.

"This is a fantastic amount of money and will go into our research fund."

Mrs Price was especially proud of her involvement with the Celebration For Life After Cancer fashion show at the Tall Trees Hotel, near Yarm.

All the models were sufferers and more than £60,000 was raised. Another similar event is now being planned for April.

"I modelled even though my hip was horrendous," she said. "But the event was massive for all the models who took part."

Before she became ill, Mrs Price was based in Newcastle as head of human resources for Allied Bakeries.

Now, at 36, she is retired on ill health grounds.

"I spent too many hours at work and I was on the road all the time," she said. "Looking back, I probably did too much.

"This could have been a wake-up call. But it didn't have to be so loud."