Katie, Jaimie, Chris, fellow driving instructors, and I have committed to walking a minimum of 11,000 steps every day for the whole of March in aid of Frank's Fund. Let's make something positive come out of this latest period of lockdown!

Ewing sarcoma most commonly affects children and young adults aged 10-25 years old and makes up about 1.5% of all childhood cancers. A child, teenager or adult is diagnosed with primary bone cancer every 10 minutes somewhere in the world, but primary bone cancer received just 0.028% of funding from the major UK cancer charities in 2018/19 and shockingly their investment in the disease dropped by 17% to a 17-year low. Treatment protocols are out of date and gruelling. It’s a scandal that the lack of investment means that neither treatment nor survival rates have improved in over 30 years and that there’s so little chance of survival if it returns.

In April 2016, just as Frank was looking forward to the next phase in his life at secondary school, he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He was just 11 years old.

The next 12 months was tougher for Frank than anything he could ever have imagined: 14 exhausting cycles of chemotherapy, 2 months of proton therapy in the US and an horrific 8 hour operation to remove the tumour and a substantial part of his pelvis.

Then in September 2017, after just 5 months in remission, he found out the disease had returned. Frank was confronted with further endless cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with just a tiny chance that it could cure him. Somehow he found the strength to keep going and the spirit to remain cheerful. He just wanted to behave and be treated like any other teenage boy. If anyone asked him how he was feeling they always received the same answer, ‘I’m good thanks’, accompanied by a huge grin.

By the middle of January 2019 Frank’s health was failing fast. His short life ended on 9th February 2019. Frank would never have wanted any child to suffer as he suffered. If his death is to have any meaning at all, it needs to be to help people who are diagnosed in the future by raising funds that can be invested in much needed research.

The Bone Cancer Research Trust is dedicated to saving lives & improving outcomes for people affected by primary bone cancer. Despite being small, they fund more research projects exploring primary bone cancer than any other organisation. Other large UK cancer research charities do not prioritise bone cancer patients, in 2019 just 0.028% of their research spend went to bone cancer – not even close to 1%!Last year alone, Bone Cancer Research Trust committed an incredible £807,824 to pioneering bone cancer research - to save lives!