When Bryony Carr was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1996, she was just 17 years old. She was told that unless she had an immediate operation she would have less than a week to live.
The operation, in which the tumour – the size of a clementine – was removed, was a success. Then began the fight to recover and the struggle to survive.
She had to abandon her hopes of becoming a professional musician because the illness left her with co-ordination and dexterity problems.
But since then she has not only learned to regain many of her previous skills but has graduated with a degree in biomedical sciences from the University of the West of England.
Partly in gratitude for her survival and also because she wants to communicate something of the quality for her experiences to people in general, Bryony has written a book of poems chronicling her struggle, entitled The Race For Life. Cancer affects about one in six hundred children and adolescents in this country and with new medical techniques there is a survival rate of about 70%. However, it takes little imagination to realise what a terrible trauma this experience can be, especially for family and friends.
Bryony’s hope in publishing her poetry, together with that of some friends, is that she can convey a sense of the inner journey in this kind of struggle, not only in terms of her own experiences – her fears, her hopes, her moments of joy and despair – but also how it affects relationships with friends, especially fellow sufferers.
“It’s incredible how deep the bond with friends and fellow sufferers goes, when you are confronted by a life-threatening disease like this. The quality of friendship in these circumstances goes beyond anything I would have imagined. Friendship is and has been literally a life line.”

The story of Bryony’s struggle has been featured in several leading national newspapers and magazines in the past, including The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Daily Mail, Sunday People, Woman, More, The Bristol Evening Post.

The Race For Life tells the story from the inside.

138 x 138 hardback. ISBN 9781842890035.