Please donate - Bare4Claire Cancer Appeal

Hi, my name is Stefan. There's a bunch of crap I could tell you about myself, but to be honest, that isn't why I'm here.

The reason I am here, is my fabulous friend Claire, who is currently dying of a rare and aggressive form of cancer, diagnosed only a few months ago - so please let me tell you about her, instead.

Claire is a remarkable woman, who has been through an awful lot over the 22 years I have known her. Wise, courageous and kind to a fault, she has never let me down.

She is a loving wife to her husband Julian and a dedicated mother to her 9 year old son - and like most mums, she wants nothing more than to be there for her family. She wants to walk hand-in-hand through life with her son, as he grows to manhood, to support and guide him through the myriad challenges he will face.

But in order to do this, she desperately needs more time.

Since being diagnosed earlier this year, she has already been through so much, including two rounds of chemotherapy and laying fully conscious through an operation in which her skull was cut open and a tumour removed from her brain - but whilst her current treatment may prolong her life for a few months, or possibly even a couple of years - beyond that, the outlook is poor.

There is hope, however, in the form of a cutting-edge treatment available privately, in Germany. This could be genuinely life-saving for Claire and give her the additional time she desperately needs with her family - but it comes with a colossal price tag of £100,000.

Like so many of us, Claire simply cannot access that sort of money readily, so she has set about fund-raising for this life-saving treatment - and thanks to the kindness of a huge number of friends, family and complete strangers, she has managed to raise a remarkable £70,000 so far.

I now want to help Claire close that gap and gain access to the treatment that could save her life.

To this end, I will be walking 200 miles completely barefoot, throughout August and September 2022. Come rain or shine, hell or high weather, I will be putting my best, bare foot forward and trudging resolutely on through the muck, mire and whatever unmentionable detritus lays strewn before me.

This will be particularly challenging for me, as I already suffer from plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinopathy in both legs.

If you are able to, please sponsor me - whether it's a few pence per mile that I manage, or a sum if I make the 200 miles - every penny counts.

Please help me to help Claire.