Woman leads trek across Sahara in husband's memory

A woman who lost her husband to a rare form of cancer has trekked 100km (62 miles) across the Sahara Desert in his memory.

Ruth Stephenson, from Anlaby, near Hull, lost her husband Lou to leiomyosarcoma – a rare and aggressive form of sarcoma, which affects muscle tissue, in October 2025.

Her sister and three friends joined the four-day walk across the desert, which she described as "incredible" and "heartbreaking".

Ruth said: "With it being a rare cancer, it is not a cancer charity that you see a lot of, it's to support those people. So, it means more than anything that we are able to do it in Lou's memory and if we help one family that is good enough for me."

Lou was diagnosed in his early 30s after suffering with a swollen leg. He underwent surgery and treatment at Leeds General Infirmary, but died of the condition aged 42.

"We struggled, we were only in our thirties, and we had two small children. We had, like any family going through this, the most horrendous concerns and worries," she said.

She initially planned to trek across the desert alone, but her sister and friends decided to support her.

Ruth said temperatures were in the mid-30s as they walked across sandy terrain.

"At the time I felt like I would have been able to manage it on my own, but actually it would have been too hard. We needed each other to get through it," she added.

"I am really glad they all stepped up and came with me because I think I would have struggled a lot more on my own."

The group raised more than £8,000 for Sarcoma UK, a charity that supports people living with sarcoma and funds research into the condition.

Ruth now hopes to undertake more fundraising activities and said knowing she was helping others "helps me move forward and keep going every day".

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