What am I doing? 

On the 4th of July 2021 I am going to be competing in an Ironman. This is one of the longest triathlon distances there is. It is a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride before finishing with a marathon. 

Why am I doing this?

It's hard to put into words the effect pancreatic cancer has had on my life and the lives of my family and friends of the family. The anxiety it has caused, the sadness, the despair. I lost a mother, someone who always supported me, championed me and believed in me. Someone who was and will continue to be an inspiration to me. Someone who's kindness and generosity filled the hearts of everyone who knew her. 

On the day my mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer she wrote:

 "Entered some kind parallel universe today and the road ahead is drastically different. For some reason I knew it was coming. Felt compelled to look up a prayer before the appointment "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.""

Those words have come to mean a lot to me since my mum passed away. Because while nothing can bring mum back, something can be done about pancreatic cancer. As it stands pancreatic cancer is for most a death sentence, 7 in 10 people will receive no active treatment and 9 out of 10 people are diagnosed too late for surgery, the only treatment that can potentially cure the disease. In addition to this, despite survival rates for other cancers improving over the years there has been barely any change in the survival rate for pancreatic cancer in 45 years.

Perhaps the most shocking statistic I have come across is that half of the people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will die within three months of the diagnosis. I will never forget the moment I was told that mum potentially had between 6 months and three years depending on how her chemotherapy went. I remember feeling cheated and robbed by the cruel hand we had been dealt. But now having learnt more about it, I have come to understand that we were lucky to have the opportunity of treatment. 

Mums journey is over but everyday new families find themselves transported to the parallel world in which their futures, their dreams, their lives are cut devastatingly short. That is why I am taking on this ironman, for my mum of course, as some strange form of therapy for sure, but also for all the other families out there in the hope that that peoples lives can be saved. Whether it be through funding research into life saving treatment or early diagnosis pancreatic cancer cannot be forgotten about, it cannot be left behind, we cannot let it be said that there has barely been any change in the survival rate for pancreatic cancer in 50, 60, 70 years.