In January 2020, my incredibly amazing mum, Mary, was suddenly diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 Stomach Cancer. Despite an initial prognosis of 6-12 months, the aggression of the cancer was brutal and even after putting up a scarily brave fight, just 3 months later mum passed away peacefully surrounded by close family at home, aged just 55.

I have made it my mission to make my mum proud! I hope to follow in her footsteps and keep her love for adventure alive. Last year, myself and some of my closest friends raised over £3000 for GutsUK by completing the National Three Peaks Challenge. This was influential in providing me with the closure I needed as I said a final goodbye to mum from the tallest mountains in the country. I am extremely lucky and fortunate enough to have such amazing family and friends, who have supported me through everything in the last year and a half and have helped me become happy again. I always say I believe this is something that mum instilled in me, as she would always strive to surround herself with only the most caring and loving people.

This overwhelming support has helped drive my passion to look for new ways to celebrate and remember mums life. Therefore, I am extremely happy to announce that I am lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to run in the London Marathon 2021 on October 3rd! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, as many people and even athletes aspire to take part in such a big event. Although I do not have a running background, I ran the Sheffield Half-Marathon in 2019 (dressed as a banana), so I have a small idea of the challenge I am up against. I will be aiming to have fun and raise as much money as possible again for GutsUK, but I will also be giving it my all and training extremely hard to ensure I do my mum proud! My friends are helping me with training and we will be running a half-marathon in Cholmondeley (20/06/21) and hopefully another in time for the marathon, I will be posting updates of my training on this page and social media.

"It is impossible to explain the hurt, pain and confusion that grief can cause, but it is just as hard to put into words what support and friendship can mean for someone, especially when they are at their lowest point." 

Mum will always be remembered by those who knew her as one of the strongest, most caring people in the world, she meant so much to so many and her memory will forever live on in all of us.

Please feel free to donate, share or like my page and thank you again for your time and support! 

Ethan x

I am supporting Guts UK*; the charity mum chose before she passed, they will receive all donations. In case you have not heard of it before, stomach cancer is the 5^th most common type of cancer, and it is the 2^nd most common cause of cancer deaths globally. Despite this, it is notoriously underfunded compared to research into other cancers**.

* See https://gutscharity.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/
for information on Guts UK.

** See https://www.nostomachforcancer.org/about/statistics
for statistics.