This time last year, Karen Sim had no idea what her future would hold, or whether she even had one.
The 42-year-old had been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare cancer of the lymphatic system, causing tumours to grow in her neck, lung and throughout her body.
Her disease was at stage 4B – the worst possible scenario.
Tears began to roll down her face as a doctor told her that stage 5 did not exist, and that her treatment must begin immediately.
Just as Miss Sim, from Cove, started her first dose of chemotherapy, she decided to take part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life at Kings Links in Aberdeen.
As she stood on the star line and looked at the hundreds of other women around her who had all been touched by cancer in some way, she had no idea what her story would be.
But this year, as she gets ready to take part in the 2015 race, Miss Sim has a far better idea of what her future holds – and will also have the thought of marrying the love of her life to get her to the finish.
At the end of last year, Miss Sim got the news she had longed for – that after six months of gruelling treatment, she was now cancer free.
She said: “You feel like your life is on pause when you’re going through chemo and cancer. All of a sudden I felt like I was no longer in limbo, that I could start to get back to normal.
“Having cancer makes you realise that ‘normal’ is very precious – it’s something I longed for.”
To celebrate the end of what had been the most turbulent year of her life, her partner Kevin Fulton also popped the question.
The 50-year-old had suggested marriage to her while she went through treatment, but she did not want him to propose until she got the all-clear.
With her treatment finished, he did not waste any time.
The couple – who met while they lived in the same street – are looking forward to getting married on August 28 in the small north-east fishing village of St Combs.
“This time last year I’d have struggled to believe that this is where I am right now – I couldn’t be happier,” said Miss Sim, who works as a recruitment operations director for Petrofac.
“I’m a positive person and I took the attitude right from the very start that I’d fight this cancer with everything I had.
“I believed I was going to beat it and that it had picked the wrong person to mess with. I was up for the fight.
“Kevin’s been my rock – I couldn’t have got through this without him, my family and friends. Their support, love and prayers meant everything to me.
“After all the bad news and the hospital visits we had last year, I can’t wait for our wedding – it will be fantastic to have something else to celebrate.”