Profiles

Terminal cancer sufferer Jane Tomlinson died aged 43 in 2007, following a seven-year battle with the disease. The married mother-of-three, who was made CBE for charitable services in June, had raised £1.75m in a series of gruelling challenges.

She died at St Gemma's Hospice in Leeds on Monday 3 September 2007.

Her husband Mike and children Suzanne, Rebecca and Steven said they were heartbroken but "honoured to have been blessed with such a wonderful person".

Jane refused to believe her diagnosis of terminal cancer meant an end to her active and fruitful life. The mother of three found strength in running and cycling as she continued to defy doctors' beliefs that she had just six months to live in the summer of 2000.

Through a series of gruelling feats of endurance, she raised more than £1.5 million for a series of charities close to her heart. Courageous, bloody-minded and boldly honest, it was the unfailing support of her three children and 45-year-old husband, Mike, that helped keep her alive. With a string of high-profile awards to her name, she admitted feeling "constantly surprised" that she had lived so long, but said she had an "unfinished job to do as a mum".

Her last big challenge was a 6700km bike ride across America - a far cry from her first race which was a 5km Race For Life in May 2001.

Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on February 21, 1964, she married Mike in the mid-80s and together they built a home for themselves in Rothwell, Leeds, living the life of any normal family. But in July 1990 Mrs Tomlinson was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a mastectomy and had the lymph nodes under her arms removed.