Hi I’m Charlotte, Mum to 3 beautiful Children who are also grandchildren to my wonderul Grandy <3

Back in February of this year the day before Valentine’s Day I received a call from my mum with the devestating news that my step-dad had been given a diagnosis of late stage bowel cancer at the age of 56, which had spread from his bowel to his liver.

We had known for quite some time that he wasn’t himself, he had been losing weight, feeling sick, cold and generally unwell but he soldiered on working throughout as he always has,despite how dreadful he felt and how much we nagged him to go to the doctors!
As much as we wish we could have got an earlier diagnosis we are grateful at how well he has responded to treatment so far and the chemotherapy has helped to reduce the tumours in his liver this still doesn’t compensate for the fact there is no cure and due to covid and lockdown for many months he has undergone treatment alone and been kept apart from family. The treatment comes with many side effects but he never complain just does what he has to do to give himself the best chance at fighting this horrible disease :(

Back in March my mum had arranged to renew their wedding vows, everything was planned and booked but had to be cancelled and at the last minute due to all the restrictions due to covid. There hasn’t been an opportunity to plan another date for this to go ahead which was very upsetting when so much effort and thought had gone into planning such a special event.

Andy has always been a provider, a man that would never have a day off sick, a true family man and devoted husband. His work ethic is something I have always admired and after working for the same company for 28 years now furlough has come to an end he has been automatically put on SSP which is only a fraction of his wages. Meanwhile my mum continues to work meaning he often spends long periods of time alone. I really feel frustrated that after everything he is dealing with he now has the added stress of his income reducing dramatically.

I have been wanting to organise aonething like this for a while, I want to do something just for him. He has never asked anyone for anything, always such a proud man who just cracks on with life but it’s time someone did something for him so I decided to run a marathon during the month of October to raise money that will hopefully help to reduce the worry of finances for both my mum and Andy at this stressful time. It may not sound like a huge amount of miles
but i wanted to be realistic as running has never been something I’m particularly good at. Hopefully it may help to inspire me will to go for the full marathon in the future. I would like to continue to raise awareness for bowel cancer as its such a silent cancer which only presents symptoms in the later stages. I want to thank you’ll in advance for taking the time to read my story and if you are kind enough to donate to my Gofund me page please know that every donation however big or small will be appreciated more than you know. My gorgeous brothers are also teaming up with me to support this cause which is so close to our hearts <3

Thankyou,

Love Charlotte x