
A woman who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after experiencing “unbearable pain” while on holiday is now trekking through the Alps.
Dawn Clayton, 60, was on a family trip to Mallorca in 2014 when she started experiencing severe abdominal pain.
Tests carried out by specialists revealed that the former nurse had a cancerous cyst in her pancreas.
Dawn, from Caerleon, Newport, wants to raise awareness and funds for research and has now completed a journey of just over 62 miles (100km).
In 2014, Dawn started experiencing pain in her upper abdomen and initially thought it was indigestion.
The pain did not subside after several days, and she was admitted to a hospital in Mallorca.
She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and had her gallbladder removed upon returning to the UK.
The following year, she experienced the same severe pain and tests revealed that she had a cancerous cyst in her pancreas.
“I was scared and shocked and knew what was happening to me. As a nurse, you say it helps if you have a little bit of insight, but it doesn’t,” she said.
Because the cancer was caught early, Dawn underwent whiplash surgery in Newcastle to have her pancreas and parts of other organs removed.
After a week recovering in hospital, she returned to Wales and underwent chemotherapy three times a month for five months.

When she was first diagnosed, Dawn quit her job as a nurse, but returned to university in 2019 and completed her return to practice registration.
“I loved my job so much that I wanted to go back to make sure my patients had the best experience,” she said.
But just months after marking five years cancer-free, during the last week of the course, she collapsed with familiar pain.
After contacting a surgeon and undergoing further tests in Newcastle, a scan revealed a precancerous cyst in her pancreas.
In January 2021, she had her pancreas and spleen removed in two surgeries.
Now, four years later, Dawn has gotten used to living without these organs or being diagnosed with diabetes.
What is pancreatic cancer?
According to Pancreatic Cancer Society UK, pancreatic cancer can occur anywhere in the pancreas and does not cause symptoms in its early stages, but as it grows, symptoms begin to appear.
Diagnosis can be difficult because symptoms are not specific to pancreatic cancer and come and go, but some people do not experience all symptoms.
In August, Dawn and her husband Paul completed a climb of more than 30,000 feet (9.144 billion meters) and raised £750 for Tenovus Cancer Care.
They set off between Germany’s alpine capital Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck, Austria, trekking through the Tyrolean Alps over eight days.
“It was very difficult. I had some complications with my health, but I received treatment and was able to take it easy during the last part of the trek,” she said.