Helping to support Bry and his fight with cancer…
Donation protected
This is Bryan, who many of you will know well…
A friend, a colleague, a teammate, an opponent, a huge Sunderland AFC fan, but more than anything a man dedicated to his beautiful family…
Up until very recently he was a healthy 36 year old who loved nothing more than spending quality time with his wife Lauren and children Theo (5) and Willow (1).
Bryan had a physically demanding and active job and regularly played sport, his love of football, cricket, golf and cycling all evident in his participation in all these activities since being a young boy right up until his diagnosis.
His story all changed in late Nov 2022 when Bryan was suddenly diagnosed with a tumour on his spine. The best neurosurgeons managed to remove most of tumour, but as it had been compressing his directly against his spine, it has left him with lower limb weakness, physical disability and balance problems which means he now cannot walk more than a few feet without having to rely on crutches or, for longer distances a wheelchair.
Very quickly after the invasive surgery, came the devastating diagnosis that the tumour was a Ewings Sarcoma - a rare (in adults) and aggressive form of bone cancer.
This devastating news and shocking news rocked Bryan and his young family. Nobody should have to go through a fight against cancer at any age, but having been a young and fit 36 year old it has been a truly been the most challenging time of Bryan’s life. Very soon after his diagnosis in December of 2022, he began undergoing an intensive and gruelling year long programme of chemotherapy and radiotherapy which will involve fortnightly admission to hospital alternating between 2 and 6 nights.
Ewings Sarcoma carries a 70-80% chance of recovery or 5 year survival rate if he can tolerate the side effects of the treatment which will leave him majorly fatigued and very poorly. The radiotherapy will more than likely affect his thyroid and cause further damage to his spine. We have been told that this will hinder any progress with physical recovery mobility wise. In true Bryan style, in the face of upmost adversity, he remains extremely positive, upbeat and determined to fight with everything he has. And fight is absolutely doing, he is inspiring us all with his tenacity and determination but with such efforts comes a daunting realisation.
Such realisation that at present and for the long foreseeable, Bryan can no longer work and he is solely reliant at present on SSP while it lasts and this will be the case for at least a year. Ironically his wife Lauren, works 30 hours per week as a clinical research nurse who undertakes chemotherapy trials with cancer patients. Unfortunately, at present Lauren is not able to increase her hours due to childcare issues and increasing costs and sadly, much to his devastation, Bryan is simply not well enough to help in this regard.
This lovely and loving family are now majorly struggling financially. A cost of living crisis that is being felt by is all is crippling their financial situation even more so given Bryan’s circumstances. Close family are trying to support them as best they can but there is a limit to what they can do.
A major part of Bryan’s recovery will be to continue to remain positive and as much as possible stress and worry free, but their current financial situation is doing nothing to alleviate this.
We all know times are hard for everyone at the moment but if you can help support in any way through a donation, no matter what size, it would be greatly appreciated by Bryan and his family to ease the burden on them all.
We will provide a regular update on Bryan’s cancer journey so you can see how he is getting on, thank you for taking the time to read his story…
We are all behind you Bry, fight hard and “dig in”!
#youvegotthisbry
A friend, a colleague, a teammate, an opponent, a huge Sunderland AFC fan, but more than anything a man dedicated to his beautiful family…
Up until very recently he was a healthy 36 year old who loved nothing more than spending quality time with his wife Lauren and children Theo (5) and Willow (1).
Bryan had a physically demanding and active job and regularly played sport, his love of football, cricket, golf and cycling all evident in his participation in all these activities since being a young boy right up until his diagnosis.
His story all changed in late Nov 2022 when Bryan was suddenly diagnosed with a tumour on his spine. The best neurosurgeons managed to remove most of tumour, but as it had been compressing his directly against his spine, it has left him with lower limb weakness, physical disability and balance problems which means he now cannot walk more than a few feet without having to rely on crutches or, for longer distances a wheelchair.
Very quickly after the invasive surgery, came the devastating diagnosis that the tumour was a Ewings Sarcoma - a rare (in adults) and aggressive form of bone cancer.
This devastating news and shocking news rocked Bryan and his young family. Nobody should have to go through a fight against cancer at any age, but having been a young and fit 36 year old it has been a truly been the most challenging time of Bryan’s life. Very soon after his diagnosis in December of 2022, he began undergoing an intensive and gruelling year long programme of chemotherapy and radiotherapy which will involve fortnightly admission to hospital alternating between 2 and 6 nights.
Ewings Sarcoma carries a 70-80% chance of recovery or 5 year survival rate if he can tolerate the side effects of the treatment which will leave him majorly fatigued and very poorly. The radiotherapy will more than likely affect his thyroid and cause further damage to his spine. We have been told that this will hinder any progress with physical recovery mobility wise. In true Bryan style, in the face of upmost adversity, he remains extremely positive, upbeat and determined to fight with everything he has. And fight is absolutely doing, he is inspiring us all with his tenacity and determination but with such efforts comes a daunting realisation.
Such realisation that at present and for the long foreseeable, Bryan can no longer work and he is solely reliant at present on SSP while it lasts and this will be the case for at least a year. Ironically his wife Lauren, works 30 hours per week as a clinical research nurse who undertakes chemotherapy trials with cancer patients. Unfortunately, at present Lauren is not able to increase her hours due to childcare issues and increasing costs and sadly, much to his devastation, Bryan is simply not well enough to help in this regard.
This lovely and loving family are now majorly struggling financially. A cost of living crisis that is being felt by is all is crippling their financial situation even more so given Bryan’s circumstances. Close family are trying to support them as best they can but there is a limit to what they can do.
A major part of Bryan’s recovery will be to continue to remain positive and as much as possible stress and worry free, but their current financial situation is doing nothing to alleviate this.
We all know times are hard for everyone at the moment but if you can help support in any way through a donation, no matter what size, it would be greatly appreciated by Bryan and his family to ease the burden on them all.
We will provide a regular update on Bryan’s cancer journey so you can see how he is getting on, thank you for taking the time to read his story…
We are all behind you Bry, fight hard and “dig in”!
#youvegotthisbry
Organizer and beneficiary
Gregg Arundel
Organizer
Bryan Conlin
Beneficiary