My families rather populated story with loss due to cancer began in the summer of 2004. Granddad Albert (the one with the pipe) was a great man. He was a qualified, highly decorated, trained soldier and engineer who fought during the Second World War and was also a Bomb Disposal Expert. He had battled on and off for twenty five years with cancer of the Oesophagus, but sadly during his early 80's he succumbed to his illness after one hell of a battle. Fast forward a number of years to May 2011 when Granddad Jack received the devastating news that he was suffering from stomach cancer. He was a man who went through life making faux pas like you wouldn't believe. For instance, he thought metal didn't attract lightening, loved nothing more than to get merry and proceed to tell everyone a few home truths and once went into a bank in Ireland and asked the cashier to "turn these here English Pounds into them there yo yo's (I think you will find that is Euro's Granddad!) His battle was relatively short but never the less still brave, and our family lost him in December of that year, just a few days before Christmas. And lastly I come to Uncle Mel (or Bam Bam as he was known to the younger members of the family). There are no words in the English language that can do him the right amount of justice. He was quite simply a legend - a massive presence and influence when I was a child and growing up - and when I sat in Wakefield Crematorium on July 30th 2015 along with my family and his friends to say my final goodbyes, I looked at Lisa, Neil, Claire and Rebecca and thought to myself "if my kids love me just a fraction of the amount that they did him, then I will be extremely lucky". These three men are the reason why I have decided to do the Half Island Challenge (33 miles) of the Isle of Wight Challenge in May 2016. Along with my team mates from "Ilson Glow Sticks", we will each be walking, jogging or running the distance to get to the finish and in the process raise lots of money for a wonderful cause. I have undertaken this challenge on a self fund basis, meaning that Cancer Research UK are not contributing to the cost that I will incur to get there and take part. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and in advance for your very kind donations.