Academic who was misdiagnosed with cancer takes on 22-mile swimming challenge for charity

Vicki Gilbert endured 13 operations, six sessions of chemotherapy and had her leg amputated as a result of the misdiagnosis in 1992. What doctors said was bone cancer was in fact a benign cyst. A second year Physical Education student at Leeds Beckett at the time, she now lectures at the University in the same subject, specialising in teaching students with special needs.

To mark the 20 year anniversary since her amputation, mum-of-three Vicki is swimming 22 miles – the distance of the channel – in 12 weeks, raising money for Aspire, a charity which helps people paralysed by spinal cord injury to live full, independent lives. You can donate via Vicki’s Just Giving page here. She must complete her swim by Monday 5 December.

“I was originally diagnosed with a benign cyst,” said Vicki. “They then did more tests and said I had bone cancer, so I started all of the necessary treatment for the tumour.

“Twenty years on and I am still tackling the long term health effects of what happened and the consequences of that misdiagnosis. At the time I just kept going, and managed to graduate at the same time as all of my classmates.”

Vicki explained that as a result of the amputation of her right leg, her left leg is under tremendous strain and just five months ago she came out of a cast following ankle ligament restructure.

With her own business, Tiny Signers, teaching sign language to children in schools and nurseries, Vicki has been a part-time lecturer at Leeds Beckett for more than two years.

“It feels good to be back where I started and teaching the next generation,” she said, adding that the best part of her job is getting positive feedback from her students.

“I love my job,” said Vicki. “I have always wanted to be a teacher, and to get to teach PE to students at the University where I was a student makes it all the more special.

“Every eight hours someone is paralysed by a spinal cord injury and Aspire provides the essential equipment, advice, housing and grants that spinal cord injured people need to live their lives independently. The swim is a big challenge, but the more I raise, the more of a difference I'll make, so please be generous.

“I know the challenges of living as a disabled person but also know that like any non-disabled person we can do anything we set our minds to!

I am also doing this swim in honour of the amazing Paralympic athletes that I watched each night of the Paralympics – they are so inspiring.”

Peter Mackreth, Dean of the School of Sport, who studied alongside Vicki at the time of her misdiagnosis, said: “Vicki continues to be an inspiration for so many people.  Despite the challenges she faces on a daily basis as a result of her misdiagnosis, her cross-channel equivalent swim is yet another example of how Vicki uses her experience to support and improve the lives of others.”