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Anyone who has the pleasure of knowing Dean knows how lucky they are. He is truly one of a kind.
Dean is a loving husband and a devoted dad to two beautiful little girls. As a friendship group, we feel incredibly privileged to have shared so many moments, laughs and memories with him.
Sadly, Dean has been battling cancer for a number of years. He has undergone major operations, including the removal of part of his tongue and lung. Recently, the cancer has returned and has now been confirmed as stage 4. There are no surgical options available, and time is heartbreakingly limited.
Dean’s cancer is incredibly rare — only two people in England and around 30 people worldwide are known to have this type. Because of this, there is very limited research available, leaving doctors facing the unknown when it comes to slowing the disease and prolonging time.
This has hit everyone hard. It is impossible to understand why something like this would happen to someone so genuinely kind, selfless and loved. You never expect someone in their 30s to be facing this.
We are setting up this GoFundMe to support Dean’s wife, Hayley, and his young daughters, Evie and Rosie, during this unimaginably difficult time. Our hope is to ease some of the financial pressures and allow the family to focus on what truly matters — spending precious time together.
Alongside this, we want to do everything we can to help Dean tick off items on his bucket list where possible, creating meaningful memories with the people he loves most.
We will be walking from One Call Stadium to Villa Park (Mansfield to Birmingham), setting off on Friday 15th May and arriving on Sunday 17th May, which is Aston Villa’s last home game of the season. With Dean being born and raised in Mansfield and a lifelong Aston Villa fan, this felt like the perfect journey to take. This walk is about more than the miles. We want to raise awareness of Dean’s rare type of cancer — one that is so rare it has no specific name and is only identified as a subtype of sarcoma cancer. We would love as many people as possible to be part of this journey. Whether you want to join us for part of the walk, meet us along the route, or be there at the finish line at Villa Park. Your support means everything. Please could everyone share, tag businesses, football clubs, and anyone else who may want to get involved. We hope to bring the football and sporting community together for one of our own. Any donation, no matter how small, will make a massive difference to this family long term. Our walking plan:
• Friday 15th May 8:00am set off — One Call Stadium to Derby 22 miles | Approx. 10 hours walking
• Saturday 16th May 8:00am set off — Derby to Lichfield 25 miles | Approx. 11 hours walking
• Sunday 17th May 7:00am set off — Lichfield to Villa Park 15 miles | Approx. 5 hours walking Thank you again to every single person supporting, donating, and sharing — we honestly couldn’t do this without you ❤️