My Story

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. I am running the London Marathon 2026!

As many of you know, Lung cancer has had a huge impact on my family and I. My beautiful soul of a Grandma and my strong willed and brave dad both lost their lives due to the disease over the past 11 years. Last year one of my biggest cheer leaders in life, my wonderful uncle Fred, was also diagnosed with the same cancer.

We are all trying our hardest to be as positive as we can and my uncle Fred has approached this latest chapter of his life with courage and grace. Rather than focus on the impact the disease is having on him and his day to day life, he is keen to tell anyone he can how grateful he is for the wonderful care he has had and continues to receive from the NHS and to remind us all to embrace the opportunities that life brings our way.

In his words ‘I’ve still got an awful lot to live for and continue to be optimistic with the continuing support of a loving family and friends'.

I can’t make my uncle better, I can’t wave a magic wand and make this situation disappear as I so desperately would like to, but I CAN do something that is a kin to what I view as impossible for me to do and that is; run a marathon.

It’s likely going to be horrendous, I will most definitely cry out in despair many times during this challenge and question what the hell I have signed myself up for and I am pretty sure I will take up swearing as a hobby. It will however, be a drop in the ocean compared to what my Uncle Fred and so many people are facing whilst battling cancer.

What your sponsorship will be doing:

Roy Castle Lung Cancer foundation provides face to face support which includes connecting people together who are going through the same situations, telephone support whereby those with the disease can quickly get advice from experienced lung cancer nurses which is both free and confidential and online support. This provides expert advice on a vast array of issues relating to the disease such as how to manage symptoms after treatments in addition to networking support ( this helped me massively when my dad was palliative as I was able to speak to those going through the same experience)  

Without volunteers and fundraisers, none of the above would be possible. The Foundation has been a huge support for my family over the past 11 years and has been invaluable in helping us navigate hard and unpredictable times.

PLEASE SPONSER ME IF YOU CAN, if only just to see a miracle of me running a marathon happen. Alternatively, if you have a talent, outlet or even ideas that could help me in raising funds I would be extremely grateful to you. It will help in supporting so many with lung cancer and their families. 

Also…my Uncle Fred is a really wonderful human and doing this makes me feel I am helping in some way.