My riskiest challenge yet for childhood cancer

My brave daughter, Azaylia Diamond Cain, lost her battle to Acute Myeloid Leukaemia when she was just 8 months old. When I wrote her eulogy, I discovered the man that I wanted to be for her, and I made a promise on that day that I would take her around the world.

In a week, I will be kayaking in the Yukon 1000, widely considered the world’s toughest survival endurance race. I will be kayaking 100 to 125 miles for 18 hours a day until I complete the 1000 miles with my kayak partner Gary, from Canada through the Arctic Circle into Alaska, completely unsupported through rough waters and wolf and bear territories. We will be sleeping rough and surviving in pure wilderness.

I’ll confess that I’m a little worried about this one. I’ll need to be at the top of my mental and physical game just to survive. But this one is for you, Azaylia, and for the thousands of children that are fighting their battle against childhood cancer.

Childhood Cancer is the number one killer of children in the UK, but shockingly, it receives less than 3% of cancer research funding.

This is a systemic issue that has stifled the availability of new talent, research and training dedicated to childhood cancer. It has led to survival rates that haven’t improved since the 1970s, to the constantly late diagnosis of children, to a lack of gentle treatments developed specifically for them, and to the devastating physical and emotional damage resulting from having to take treatments that were developed for adults (when available via the NHS), or otherwise forcing families to raise ridiculously high figures to seek treatment abroad.

This must change.

By taking on this challenge, I want to raise an additional £25,000 to support the work of The Azaylia Foundation, which I created with Azaylia’s mummy Safiyya Vorajee to fight this systemic injustice and support children in Azaylia’s name.

These funds will be used to support the next phase of the Azaylia Childhood Cancer PhD Program, which is funding the next generation of leaders in childhood cancer by offering fully funded PhDs in paediatric oncology, in partnership with leading UK universities and hospitals. This program is our biggest opportunity to have a game-changing impact on childhood cancer by bringing in new talent and new research across prevention, early diagnosis and new treatments for childhood cancer, all in one go.

Please join me in this adventure by donating if you can. Our children are worth more than 3%!

Let’s Go Champ!!!