MOUNTAINS 4 MONK
Donation protected
We are raising money for our friend Michael Monk's life-changing drugs treatment by attempting a colossal challenge:
...climbing the 4 highest mountains in England - 5,200m of ascent!
...walking the 75km in between!
...in 24 hours non-stop!
Michael's story
The day before Michael Monk's wife Lauren went on maternity leave, Michael found out that he had Stage 4 Bowel Cancer.
Starting chemotherapy almost straight away, Michael then contracted a viral infection and was admitted to hospital, just days before the birth of their first child, Margot.
The night before he was due to be discharged, and desperate to be with Lauren at another hospital where she was to be induced the next morning, Michael was told that the results from his primary tumour biopsy indicated he had a rare and aggressive type of bowel cancer, BRAF mutated metastatic bowel cancer which is of poor prognosis and for which chemotherapy has limited benefit.
Michael was told his life expectancy was 12-19 months.
Michael has already undergone 7 months of intensive chemotherapy, but unfortunately he has now exhausted all the options available to him in terms of conventional treatment.
But there is hope...
Certain trial drugs and treatments have been highly effective in preventing disease progression (and in some cases even producing a complete response) for patients with Michael’s type of cancer, but because these drugs are still on trial and not licensed, the insurance company won’t recognise or cover Michael for such treatment. So he and Lauren are having to look at self-funding in order to make sure that Michael makes it to his daughters first birthday and beyond.
And that’s where you can help...
This treatment is very new and is a positive step toward improving Michael’s quality and length of life.
There’s a problem, though…
It’s eye-wateringly expensive… projected to be over £190,000 per year not including scans.
This is something Michael will have to have once a week for at least a year to see the benefits, and maybe even a small miracle can happen.
We are determined to do our bit to raise money to give Michael a chance, and to continue to be an amazing Dad to his new daughter.
Please help if you can.
...climbing the 4 highest mountains in England - 5,200m of ascent!
...walking the 75km in between!
...in 24 hours non-stop!
Michael's story
The day before Michael Monk's wife Lauren went on maternity leave, Michael found out that he had Stage 4 Bowel Cancer.
Starting chemotherapy almost straight away, Michael then contracted a viral infection and was admitted to hospital, just days before the birth of their first child, Margot.
The night before he was due to be discharged, and desperate to be with Lauren at another hospital where she was to be induced the next morning, Michael was told that the results from his primary tumour biopsy indicated he had a rare and aggressive type of bowel cancer, BRAF mutated metastatic bowel cancer which is of poor prognosis and for which chemotherapy has limited benefit.
Michael was told his life expectancy was 12-19 months.
Michael has already undergone 7 months of intensive chemotherapy, but unfortunately he has now exhausted all the options available to him in terms of conventional treatment.
But there is hope...
Certain trial drugs and treatments have been highly effective in preventing disease progression (and in some cases even producing a complete response) for patients with Michael’s type of cancer, but because these drugs are still on trial and not licensed, the insurance company won’t recognise or cover Michael for such treatment. So he and Lauren are having to look at self-funding in order to make sure that Michael makes it to his daughters first birthday and beyond.
And that’s where you can help...
This treatment is very new and is a positive step toward improving Michael’s quality and length of life.
There’s a problem, though…
It’s eye-wateringly expensive… projected to be over £190,000 per year not including scans.
This is something Michael will have to have once a week for at least a year to see the benefits, and maybe even a small miracle can happen.
We are determined to do our bit to raise money to give Michael a chance, and to continue to be an amazing Dad to his new daughter.
Please help if you can.
Fundraising team: TEAM MONK (9)
Patrick Horton
Organizer
Richard Howard
Team member
Andrew Howard
Team member
Phil Melling
Team member
Simon Jobson
Team member
