This weekend, Bella Lee will lace up her running shoes and take on the City2Surf for a cause that is deeply personal.

Bella is running in memory of her mum, Jodi Lee, who passed away from bowel cancer in January 2010, just days before her 42nd birthday.

Before her diagnosis, Jodi was fit, healthy, active, had no family history of bowel cancer and experienced no warning signs, a reality that is all too common.

In 2008, while living in Vietnam with her young family, Jodi was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer at just 39 years of age, after experiencing sudden constipation, abdominal pain and some bloating.

A scan showed the tumour had almost completely blocked her bowel. By the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had already spread to her liver and lymph nodes.

The tragedy of Jodi’s story is that it may have had a very different ending if her bowel cancer had been detected earlier. That simple fact became the driving force behind the creation of the Jodi Lee Foundation in August 2010.

Today, the Foundation continues its mission to empower Australians to take active steps to prevent bowel cancer and detect it early, helping save lives through education, awareness and screening.

Now, almost 16 years to the day since the Foundation was established in Jodi’s name, Bella is taking on City2Surf to honour her mum’s legacy and help ensure fewer families experience the loss that hers did.

Every dollar raised will support the Jodi Lee Bowel Cancer Foundation’s work in bowel cancer prevention and early detection.

If you’d like to support Bella’s run, you can make a donation here.

Together, we can honour Jodi’s memory and help save lives.