A Fife youngster who lost a leg to cancer has been given tips on achieving her Paralympics goal by three times Olympian Hannah Miley.
Katie Pake, 11, met her sporting hero as they launched Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life in Scotland.
Despite having most of her leg amputated, Katie, of Coaltown of Balgonie, trains four times a week with Carnegie Swimming Club and hopes to one day swim for Team GB.
She talked tactics with world, European and Commonwealth medallist Hannah at Aberdeen Aquatics Centre.
Katie, who will take part in the 5k Race for Life in Kirkcaldy in June, two years to the day since she was diagnosed with bone cancer, said: “I couldn’t stop smiling when I met Hannah Miley.
“My dream is to one day wear a GB swimming costume but my mum and dad have told me I’ll have to earn that so I know I have to keep working hard.
“I want to show that cancer hasn’t stopped me and raise money for research to help others who are going through it.”
Hannah presented the youngster with a special pair of racing goggles and a swim cap.
She said: “To meet Katie was hugely inspiring.
“What she’s been through has just been incredible and she’s taken it all within her stride.
“Katie is a pretty special kid and I look forward to seeing where her career takes her and where she goes with swimming.”
After intense chemotherapy treatment, Katie underwent an eight-hour rotationplasty operation to move the cancer from her leg in February last year.
Doctors at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh removed the middle section of her leg and reattached her foot and ankle to her thigh back to front to create a new knee joint, making it easier for her to wear a prosthetic limb.
At the end of March, last year Katie and her family were told the cancer had gone.
Since being fitted with her first prosthetic leg in August last year, Katie has built up her strength, moving from a wheelchair to a walking frame and now crutches.
Her mum Carol said: “We are truly proud to call Katie our daughter. She wants to swim, play football, skydive, represent Scotland in the Paralympics and maybe one day even become a surgeon.
“And most of all she wants to make a difference.”
Organisers have encouraged men, women and children of all ages and abilities to sign up for Race for Life 5k, 10k and Pretty Muddy events across Scotland at www.raceforlife.org.
Lisa Adams, Cancer Research UK’s spokeswoman in Scotland, said: “Our Race for Life events are fun, colourful, emotional and uplifting.
“They help people with cancer by raising money for research, including clinical trials which give patients across Scotland access to the latest treatments.”
