Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. 

 

In support of a truly deserving charity, CLIC Sargent, Ross and Richard (or RoRi as we shall now call ourselves) are embarking on an 80 mile cycle ride from Folkestone into the City of London on Monday 1st July - joining up with a team of heroic fundraisers who will have already completed over 200 gruelling miles cycling from Paris to Folkestone.

 

The CLIC Sargent Vision is to see a world where all children and young people with cancer live life to the full.  The best way to sum up their work is by sharing the story of Ben, the youngest son of Nigel Crutchley, one of our team, which is both moving and inspirational.  We do hope you can sponsor RoRi for as much as you possibly can in aid of this great cause, and to help families at their most difficult time. 

 

We thank you for your support.

 

Ben’s Story

 

Ben will always be our youngest son, a happy, healthy, fun loving boy and is best friends with his elder brother Luke. However it was a month after his 9th birthday party that our whole world began to crumble, Ben suffered a little seizure which became one of many over the next few days.

 
We took Ben straight to hospital. Before we knew it, Ben was going through a myriad of examinations, tests, scans and under went a biopsy. A few days after the biopsy we were given the results. My wife Su and I got the news, that as parents we had hoped so hard not to have to hear, Ben had a malignant brain tumour, in other words, cancer. Words can’t adequately describe how we felt at that point, distraught, devastated, shocked, angry; all of these and more. But most of all we felt that we’d stepped into another world in the space of a few seconds, one where we had no experience, no compass to guide us and nobody to turn to. Almost immediately, Ben began a course of Radio and Chemotherapy along with a cocktail of drugs to control his seizures. In the midst of this, Sally and Ally came into our lives.

 

Sally and Ally are Clic Sargent Nurses, and they provided so much ore than just medical advice.  They guided us through how we told Ben’s older brother Luke about what was happening, explained to us about the effects of Radio and Chemotherapy, helped us to navigate the never ending NHS maze and supported us through some of the darkest hours anyone can imagine. But most importantly of all they were there for Ben.  It was thanks to Sally and Ally that Ben was able to have blood tests and much of his treatment at home rather than in hospital. It was also thanks to Sally and Ally that Ben understood and wasn’t scared of any of the treatment that he was given, they were always honest, but they always cared about and intuitively knew how our precious and desperately ill our little boy was.

 

Ben bravely fought the tumour that was continuing to grow in his brain. But in December 2011, 8 months after his initial diagnosis, the doctors sensitively told us that there was no more that could be done, the Chemotherapy had to be stopped. It was at this point that Sally and Ally stepped up even further. With their help, Ben remained at home until he passed away peacefully in our arms on 23 February 2012, surrounded by those who loved him most. Sally and Ally visited us 3-4 times each day towards the end. Together, we'd made sure that Ben didn’t have to cope with any scary machines or have people around him that he didn’t know. And they cared deeply about Su, Luke and I, they were always quietly there for each of us when we needed them the most, intuitively understanding what we were going through and making sure that we were prepared for what we had to face. They are still there for us now, over a year after we lost Ben, just making sure that we are doing OK and helping us with each stage of what, at times feels like a never ending wave of grief.

 

Lots of children do recover from cancer but some, like Ben, don’t.  10 families each day in the UK are told that their child has cancer –  that’s 10 more families like mine who will desperately need the help of Clic Sargent. So far we've managed to raise almost £100,000 to help other families receive the kind of support which we received from the amazing people at Clic. Our goal is to raise £1,000,000. So if you would like to join me in supporting Clic by making a donation please just click on the link.