My best friend of 30 years, Alex Polkinghorne, died from cancer on the 8 December 2012. Alex had suffered from Crohn’s disease from his early twenties which ultimately led to bowel cancer which was diagnosed as terminal in July last year. The last five years of his life was dominated by surgery, more surgery and lengthy spells in hospital and not a great quality of life at all given the tubes, bags and medication he had to endure. Through all of this he never once complained and even when he knew he didn’t have long, he faced this with immense bravery, dignity and above all, humour.

 

He was my closest friend and we literally grew up together sharing many life experiences and I will miss him greatly. Alex was kind and caring with a sarcastic wit that was second to none. A talented photographer and web designer with his own business, he had his life sorted after marrying his beautiful wife Ariadna (only two months before he passed) and having a son Charlie in 2011. Unfortunately, his cancer was so aggressive that he was only given three months to live after his diagnosis, he held out for four but died at the very early age of 40. At his funeral a group of his best buddies decided we would do something to raise money for the tremendous help that he received in the months before he died. So with most of us in our forties and massively unfit we chose to run one of the hardest half marathons in the UK!

 

In memory of Alex and to help with raising money for the fight against cancer we are going to heave our way around the testing 13 mile course of the Keswick half marathon on the 5 May 2013. I’m very glad it’s a bank holiday as I feel I will need at least three days to recover after this effort! I would tremendously appreciate it if you could donate any amount for my efforts to go towards the people who really do make a difference when a terminal diagnosis is given.

 

I’m sure you have friends or family that have been affected by cancer, so, thanks in advance if you can support me. To donate please just press CTRL and click on the link below.

 

http://www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Kirk1

 

Best Wishes,

 

Jonny