STAFF at Dorchester Hair Studio are joining a friend who has been battling cancer for 15 years as she raises money for the hospital that saved her life.

Judith Tilsed, 52, has been told repeatedly that she is terminally ill since first being diagnosed in 1999.

But the grandmother refuses to let that get in her way and, joined by women who work at the studio in Trinity Street, she has raised £3,000 for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.

Although heavily medicated, Judith undertook a sponsored cycle ride of 35 miles with her friends around Dorset.

She said: “I was very nervous about doing it, but if I can beat back cancer to remain alive despite everyone saying I would not be, then with the help of my friends, I knew I could do this and raise some money for the great work that the Royal Marsden do.”

Judith was diagnosed with cervical and ovarian cancer in 1999 and underwent a major operation to remove her womb.

Two years later, despite never having smoked, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and was todl an operation was not possible.

But she challenged her doctors, who agreed to remove half her left lung in what she describes as ‘the most painful operation I have ever had’.

Her illness was still not over as Judith was then told she had suffered kidney damage following intensive radiotherapy to cure the cancer.

She was again told that nothing could be done to save her.

In serious pain, weighing only six stone and finding it extremely difficult to even move, she tracked down a specialist in London who performed a unique operation to improve her quality of life.

Judith said: “He was my lifesaver.”

After her latest operation in 2010, she was told the cancer had returned and she had just eight months to live.

She said: “My white blood cell count was too low to continue with the chemotherapy and my local hospital stated here was nothing else that they could do.”

But still refusing to give up, she asked her GP for a referral to the Royal Marsden Hospital with a view of undergoing clinical trials.

Following an appointment there, the consultant informed her that he would press the local hospital to complete the chemotherapy sessions outstanding and then the Royal Marsden would take over her care.

Despite a difficult four months, Judith completed her chemotherapy and proceeded to show signs of improvement, with the tumour shrinking almost to nothing.

She said: “I was over the moon. I felt as if I had been given another opportunity in my life.”

Judith and her friends have raised more than £3,000 over the last two weeks to donate to the Royal Marsden Hospital.