I am racing for..

The trigger for me running the Race for Life was the death of my sister-in-law Sandra last year.  When you enter the race, you get sent a race number to pin to your front but also a big square to attach to your back where you can display who you are racing for.  It begins ‘I am racing for’ and when I looked at it, it brought tears to my eyes just thinking about how I could possibly write on it and fill it in.

The main reason for me running was to raise money in Sandra’s name and honour, but the more I thought about that blank square of paper, the more I realised that there were a number of other people who I wanted to run in memory of.  That’s when the penny dropped and I began to think about all the people I knew who had died from cancer or who had suffered from cancer.  The number was scary.

On this blog I have talked about a number of my close friends and family who have been affected by the disease but there are many others who I could name who have also been affected. Friends of friends, family of friends, colleagues at work, people I know from various social circles.

The press tell us that 1 in 3 people will be affected by cancer but this doesn’t tell the whole story.  When someone is taken ill and diagnosed with cancer, it is not just them who suffer, but it’s the people close to them, their families and friends. As the patient faces up to their diagnosis and begins to think about time off work for treatments, travel to hospitals and logistics of appointments and hospital stays, it’s their loved ones who also have a mountain to climb in caring for them, transporting them to hospital, looking after them when they are at their worst and picking them up when they are at their lowest.

When things don’t go to plan, it’s family and friends who have to stand on the sidelines unable to change anything, unable to wave a magic wand to make things right and unable to say or do anything to make things seem brighter.

So when they tell us that 1 in 3 people will be affected by cancer it’s not the true story. All of us are going to be affected by cancer in some way even if only from a distance in knowing someone who has been diagnosed.

We have to do something to treat a disease which affects so many people. There are so many types of cancer all with their own characteristics and each one is a separate disease which needs a different way of diagnosing, managing and treating it. Such good progress has been made with some of them but there are so many others which need urgent research and more money to conquer them.

Please help by sponsoring me http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

So back to the piece of paper I need to pop on my back for the race.  I am running the Race for Life in honour and celebration of all of the following people:

• my Sister-in-law Sandra
• my Uncle David
• my Uncle Rodney
• my Uncle Michael
• my Great-Aunt Daphne
• my Great-Uncle Roy
• my cousin’s Dad, Len
• my friend John
• my friend Beverley
• my 2nd-cousin Karon
• my Great-Great Aunt Edith
• Leon Barwell, Saints ex-chairman
• Pierre & Dora Saguiez, my friend Becca’s grand-parents
• ‘Jacko’ Michael Brennan, who passed away aged 18 years old

I am also running with my Uncle Alan in my thoughts as he has been diagnosed with cancer since I began this blog and is currently fighting his own battle with the disease.  Also with Jean Adkins in my mind who is a friend of a friend and also has her own fight with cancer at the moment.

I am also running in grateful thanks for the lives of my Gran and my friend Sniffer who have both suffered but survived breast cancer.

And there are many more who I haven’t mentioned here but I run in their honour too.  Do you want to add anyone to my list?  I’m so willing to run in memory or celebration of your loved one – just message me and I’ll add them to my back to run for on the day.  All I ask in return is a minimum donation of £1 – easy at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint or by texting ‘SHAM68 £1’ to 70070

Go-on make it a nightmare for me to fit them all on….