Hello, Jamie and I are running Rugby 2026 half marathon to raise money for his wife Danielle Hughes who has recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Stomach Cancer. This diagnosis has been a heartbreaking blow to their family, I've attached below Danielle's full story.

We've chosen to do a half-marathon as we're both dads of two who haven't run for the best part of a decade, so it'll be a challenge for the both of us to get in shape to complete it.

The money raise will go towards several aspects such as:

- Covering losses in wages for Danielle who runs her own business.

- Covering costs travelling for treatment such as fuel, parking, hotels, food.

Anything is appreciated and will help both Danielle and Jamie through this time.

Danielle’s story

On Friday 30th May, Danielle woke up with severe stomach pain. She felt hot and flushed and then passed out. After calling 111, an ambulance was sent. Her observations were normal, and appendicitis was ruled out.

By Sunday 1st, Danielle still didn’t feel right, so she took herself to A&E. After assessments, she was told it was trapped wind. Before leaving, she asked for her bloods to be checked — those results showed she had sepsis.

Danielle was taken for further checks at surgical assessment, where colitis was suspected, and she was sent for a CT scan. After the scan, a doctor rushed in and told her she needed emergency surgery for a perforated stomach — a hole in her stomach that was leaking into her abdomen and poisoning her. This surgery was needed to save her life.

Until that moment, Danielle had no idea how serious her condition was. Suddenly, she was being fitted with a cannula, catheter, NG tube, and given morphine. Doctors later explained they weren’t confident performing the surgery due to the position of the perforation, so Danielle would need to be transferred to another hospital — though they didn’t yet know when or where.

At 2am, she was transferred by blue lights to another hospital, where surgery took place first thing in the morning. Seven hours later, the operation was complete, and her stomach was thankfully left intact. Biopsies were taken, but they were contaminated and couldn’t be used.

Over the following months, Danielle underwent two endoscopies, a pelvic scan, an ultrasound endoscopy, a laparoscopy, and multiple investigations — all initially showing benign results with no evidence of malignancy.

Five months later, the devastating diagnosis was finally confirmed:

Stage 4 Diffuse Type Signet Ring Cell Adenocarcinoma of the stomach.

A repeat CT scan has since confirmed peritoneal disease, though thankfully no other metastatic spread has been found.

Since diagnosis Danielle has been signed up to a new trial which includes targeted therapy. This treatment is only available at Addenbrooke’s Hospital which is located in Cambridge. Fortunately Addenbrooke’s is in the top 5 NHS hospitals in the country and is the leading hospital in cancer trials in the uk, but the treatment has come with a financial strain including petrol fees and hotel stays.