Helping the True Cancer Fighters in this World

TAKE 2 - Personal Post

Hi,

As most of you are aware, I am running the New York Marathon in November 06 being next month for Cancer Council Australia.

What you may not know is that I am currently battling the horrific disease.

In my life I have had ups and downs… great times and tough times… I have lived life to the full. I am also lucky enough to have found an excellent balance and a positive place in my life.

Then just like that, I was diagnosed with stage 4 Colorectal cancer. My life was turned upside down.

I have made the decision that I will continue to remain positive, active and to battle for myself and my family.

Distance running has been a huge part of my life. This challenge is not only to physically push myself (with one functional lung) but to show others what mental strength can achieve. The impact on me now is that Running 1km for me now feels like I have run 5km's so running the full marathon will feel like I have run over 200km's.

You can show your support by donating to this incredible cause which enables so many fighters like myself to stay hopeful.

I am peace with everything as well so don't want anyone to feel sad or sympathetic as I was actually diagnosed with stage 4 Bowel Cancer just over 18 months ago, which has spread to my liver and lungs whereby I now only have one functioning lung and was told that I had 3 to 6 months to live at the time. This news was obviously a shock but have remained positive and active and will continue to fight Cancer now and never give up and count everyday as a blessing.

I have also kept my original post below being Take 1

TAKE 1 - Original Post

Hi,

For all of you that know me, Cancer has had a major impact in my life over the last few years. I wanted to do something to support the families and sufferers of this horrific illness which still has everyone baffled as it does not discriminate. They continue to research to find a long-term cure and continually development current treatments.

Ironically, this will be the second time in my lifetime that I have raised money for charity. In 1989, I had the pleasure of running my first ever Marathon in London at the age of 18 and decided to run this for Cancer Research UK.

Unfortunately, my Mother In-Law who was the most graceful and selfless person had enjoyed a wonderful family holiday (vacation) with us in Australia for the Christmas and New Year. Upon returning in late January 2020 to the Netherlands she visited the Doctor with a stomachache and was diagnosed immediately with Cancer. She was relatively young at the age of 68 and had a healthy lifestyle with no prior warning signs and passed away in March 2020. This had a major impact on my wife Petra and her remaining immediate family as this was so unexpected.

Cancer is a dreadful disease and as I have become more educated, I am shocked to continually find out the impact which this having with current friends and their families as well as my own.

Based on this turn of events, I have run numerous Marathons throughout the World since my first one in 1989 whereby I have lost count but haven't run a registered Marathon since 2013. I have decided to run another one this year and have been accepted to run the New York Marathon on 06 November 2022 and wanted to raise money for two charity's which I believe are continuing to help fight the battle to improve current Cancer treatments with information shared across the World.

Basically, all I am asking for you is to donate to my Go Fund Me page so that I can donate half of my proceeds to Fred's Team in the USA and the other half to the Cancer Council in Australia.

So, I am kindly asking for you to donate what you can as every little helps. Why don't you think about having one less alcoholic beverage this month or even go all out and quit for the month or if you are a big tea or coffee drinker think about going on a slight caffeine detox and having one less coffee a day or again for the entire month and donating to my Go Fund Me page. My slogan for this is "DRY JULY 22". So, for the cost of that one individual Alcoholic Beverage, Tea or Coffee etc ($5), I am only asking you to donate what you can and not expecting large individual donations but want any help for me to reach my goal by the end of October 2022.

By having a "DRY JULY 22" may help lead you towards a healthier lifestyle.

Fred's team (https://www.fredsteam.org/about) is a group whereby 100% of the money raised goes directly into the labs at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), where groundbreaking discoveries are making a real difference for people around the world.

Cancer Council Australia (https://www.cancer.org.au/get-involved/donate-to-cancer-council/where-your-money-goes) is a group where every dollar donated helps fund four key areas of work: supporting people affected by cancer, funding world-class research, developing and implementing prevention programs and working with government to achieve important policy changes to reduce cancer risk and save lives.

If you can also forward this to any of your family, friends, work colleagues or even the business or company that you work for as it is for a worthy cause. If any larger donations are made through a company or organisation, then I am happy to help promote and advertise that company and help promote this through the relevant charity where the funds are going as well.

If anyone wants to support me in person and watch the event, I will be in New York from Thursday 03 November 2022 and leaving on Monday 07 November 2022.

I appreciate all your help in advance.

Take care,

Sean