Courageous Aksa Marshal refused to let a spell in hospital stop her from attending a cancer awareness conference she had organised at Slough's Copthorne Hotel on Saturday.

Only last week members of Mrs Marshal's Asian ladies' social group Meet and Mingle had celebrated meeting their target of raising £10,000 for the Imperial Health Charity's Ovarian Care Fund.

But the night before the conference Mrs Marshal, who is herself battling ovarian cancer, had to go into hospital after becoming unwell.

Despite staying at Wexham Park Hospital in Slough over the weekend Mrs Marshal still made sure she did not miss the conference, getting special permission to leave her hospital bed.

She said: "I told Wexham Park Hospital I had to be there and it would only take a few hours."

Doctor Lalitha Iyer, medical director of the Farnham Road practice in Slough, hosted the conference, which was held in the morning and designed to help raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of early cancer.

Meet and Mingle members were joined by other women and several men as they heard guest speakers who included Professor Christina Fotopoulou, a leading consultant gynaecological oncologist at Imperial College. A question and answer session with guest consultants and medical professionals also helped people learn more about a vitally important subject.