A HORSE enthusiast who battled leukaemia and underwent a bone marrow transplant has organised a charity hack to raise vital funds for the charity she credits with saving her life.

Julie Raistrick’s world was turned upside down back in December 2015 when she was admitted to hospital with flu-like symptoms.

After a series of tests, she received the devastating blow she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and began chemotherapy, having to stay in hospital until March and be fed through a tube.

Julie, 47, said: “It was just a shock. My head was just going through the mill every day.

“In hospital, I was diagnosed with depression and that was down to being stuck in hospital and not knowing what was going to be the outcome.

“I lost the ability to talk, walk, swallow - I just lost all my mobility.”

At one point, her family were called in as it was feared she would not make it.

The grandmother-of-three, who works as a childcare assessor, was eventually able to return to her Buttershaw home to receive palliative care.

But determined her illness would not beat her, she says she began to feel better and get her mobility back and was referred for a bone marrow transplant.

More chemotherapy followed, which meant Julie lost her hair again, and she also developed graft versus host disease - a complication after a bone marrow or stem cell transplant from another person - which also knocked her for six.

And she says the thought of the leukaemia returning is at the back of her mind as certain things could trigger it back up again.

Despite what she has been through Julie says she is positive about the future and has paid tribute to the hospitals where she received treatment, plus the Anthony Nolan charity.

“I’m just really grateful to all of them, and to my family and friends for spurring me on.

“I thank my lucky stars that I had all of this treatment, but then I think there are people worse off than me.

“I live for today and think tomorrow is another day and I’ll get up and see what tomorrow brings.”

One of the hardest parts of Julie’s illness was not being able to ride her horse, Rosie, for nearly two years.

And while she was nervous at first, she said it was “amazing” to get back in the saddle.

“We just gel together - I know her little quirks and she knows mine,” she said.

It’s her love of horses that has inspired her fundraising event, a charity hack, in aid of Anthony Nolan.

It will take place on Sunday, July 21, and will see riders take off from the Headley Golf Course, Thornton, for a steady ride on bridle paths.

The team will call in at different pubs along the way in the hope of bumping up the fundraising total.

For more information, or to donate, click here

If you would like to get involved search The Pink Stampede Ride Planner on Facebook.

Anthony Nolan uses its register to match people willing to donate their bone marrow or blood stem cells to people who desperately need lifesaving transplants. The charity also carries out cutting edge scientific research, funds specialist post-transplant nurses and supports patients and their families through the transplant process and beyond.