Vanessa boxing clever for charity
Vanessa Stokes is used to caring for sick pets - but when she steps into the ring she becomes a different kind of animal.
The 40-year-old veterinary nurse is currently preparing for a one-off charity fight where she will strap on the gloves for three, two minute rounds.
She has been taking part in a eight-week training programme run by Ultra White Collar Boxing at Wolverhampton Amateur Boxing Club.
It culminates with a 'fight night' at Wolverhampton Racecourse on July 11 including 17 matches with 34 boxers.
Vanessa said: "The night itself should be a great event. You get a shirt printed with your boxing nickname and you are asked to select your own entrance music.
"I have gone for the 'The Animal' as my nickname - a combination of my work and the way everyone said I had fought after stepping out of the ring one time.
"For the music I have gone for 'Welcome To The Jungle' by Guns N' Roses."
Each fighter is required by the programme to raise as much money as they can for charity.
So far Vanessa has secured £279 in sponsorship and is raising money for Cancer Research having lost her mother, Sylvia Pearson, to lung cancer in 1998.
More recently the disease has again affected those close to her with the father of her partner James currently getting over prostate cancer.
Among her sponsors and those who will be there on the night cheering her on are colleagues at Vets4Pets in Dudley Port.
With a history of competing in Karate, Vanessa is not too nervous ahead of the fight, where she will matched against someone of a similar ability.
She added: "I am more excited than nervous. Everyone wants to do well but it is more about being one big team.
"Everyone is doing it for their own reasons whether is be to get fit or to raise money for charity.
"I will probably be more nervous on the night, but for now I am just looking forward to it."
