Former British runner Paula Radcliffe has opened up about her daughter's early signs of cancer. The marathon record-setter spoke exclusively with Express Online and recalled her daughter's diagnosis at the age of 13 with a rare form of ovarian cancer. This year, Isla ran the London Marathon five years after her diagnosis and raised money for Children with Cancer UK. As a result of Isla's cancer battle, Paula has now teamed up with MetLife to raise awareness for UK parents to understand the importance of insuring themselves and their families. She also recalled the early cancer symptoms that he daughter faced when she was 13.

"When I look back on it, I think, well, she was saying when she was bouncing on the trampoline that she needed to pee all the time," Paula recounted.

"I didn't realise that that was the tumor. You don't think that at the time. She was saying that when she was swimming underwater, she couldn't hold her breath for as long as possible.

"You just kind of think, 'Oh, maybe she's just tired or she hasn't been sleeping well.' Those little warning signs mean that in the future, when little things come up, I'm probably more inclined to get those checked out sooner."

She added, "So that's why I think that advice, because research shows that three in four - or 70% - don't ever think it's going to happen to them and don't have any kind of insurance in place, should something like that happen.

"We will take out health insurance in case they fall over and break a bone, but this kind of financial cover for a long-term illness isn't something that I knew about.

"That's why I'm keen to back this campaign with MetLife because that financial worry is a worry that you can do without. So if there's some way that you can take out that policy, pay that little bit per month in just against insurance, so that when that moment comes and push comes to shove, you can drop everything and focus on your child getting better because that's all you want to do at that moment in time."

New research from MetLife UK warns of the impact of having one parent solely responsible when a child is sick or injured, with mothers still carrying most of the caring responsibility. Three in four (77%) people say they want, or have previously wanted, their mother to care for them when they were sick or injured, compared to just 9% wanting their father.

Paula now urges parents to seriously consider getting insurance to ease any financial strain if the unexpected happens. In her case, with the right cover, she could have received £12,500 from a MetLife ChildShield Plus policy.