In August twelve cyclist; Cassie Lane, Ben Herbert, Michelle O'shea Sandwith, Carl Palmer, Helen Lammin, Dan Cureton, Marc Broom, Christian Barrett, Danny Carter, Louis Francis, Simon Knotts, Tom Mead, Andy Ware will be cycling 1000 miles from John o 'Groats to Lands End over 10 days. Travelling the furthest possible distance in the British Isles is regarded as one of the toughest cycling challenges in the UK. Some of our friends and family will also be joining legs of the ride to help us raise funds (Sally Cureton, Ben Lane, Richard Southwell). We are doing this in memory of Michelle's husband and our friend Karl. http://bit.ly/14xtw2I

Karl Sandwith was only 36 when something happened to him that has, and will, alter many other people’s lives forever.

As anyone who knew Karl and those of you that didn't (I hope you will feel you did after reading this), he was an incredibly unique person, definitely one in a million.

He was so much to so many different people but most of all he was kind, loving, loyal, honest and hard working, hugely talented and so much fun.
Karl had a wicked sense of humour and a really amazing zest for life; he could truly say that there wasn't anything he didn't get to do. If he set his mind to something, he’d make sure he’d do it and always make sure he did to the best of his ability, second best was never an option. Karl had exceptionally high standards and this is why he was so successful in his trade of lead roofing.

Karl was highly skilled at many things and was one of life’s annoying people by being typically good at everything he did! It didn't matter if he’d never done something before, you could guarantee he would work at it to be the best he could possibly be, whether it was biking, golf, snooker or his trade.

He was a grafter and enjoyed creating impressive pieces of work that would last a lifetime and which now form part of his legacy.

Karl’s life was to forever change In January 2011 when he became a Daddy to his daughter Olivia Shea Sandwith. He couldn't get enough of her and cherished every minute he spent with her. Karl really relished in being a Daddy and even said he wished he had done it sooner. He once said that Olivia was “beyond perfection”, she was truly the apple of his eye.
As many of you who are parents will know, the first year is life changing in so many ways. You have so many emotions and feeling and not much time for yourself.

Well this is where it all possibly began....

Karl had been feeling unwell on and off for some time. He was tired and worn out and had lost a bit of weight, but all of these things on their own were easily explained away. When you are working hard and you have a new family, you feel you could just be a bit run down.

On January 31st 2012, Karl had gone to our local Doctors for a blood test which we had expected to show he was possibly a bit anaemic, but within 8 hours he had been called to A&E at Hillingdon Hospital, due to abnormal results. He was admitted that night and this is where he spent the majority of the next, and his last 6 months.

He was diagnosed with Leukaemia (cancer of the bone marrow)
It took over 2 weeks to fully diagnose Karl as typically, like I said before, he was unique so his illness didn't fit into the ‘usual/normal’ mould either. Karl had Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, complicated by a genetic change, altering the structure of his chromosomes called Monosomy 7. This is a serious and rare form of leukaemia which is classed as a ‘high risk disease’.

Chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant is the only available treatment that could help him.

Karl was typically stoic in his attitude to his illness “I can’t feel sorry for myself”, he said, “it is what it is, I just have to get on with it.”
He endured 3 rounds of chemotherapy during which he received countless blood and platelet transfusions for which we can’t thank those anonymous donors enough.

Sadly though Karl suffered serious complications, and he lost his battle on the 1st of August 2012.

If reading this can do anything, please do consider, if not already one, becoming a blood donor, a platelet donor or even a bone marrow donor. All of this could save a life, one likes Karl’s.

If Karl could have taught us anything, it would be to live your life to the maximum and to appreciate every minute of it. It’s just incredibly tragic that Karl won’t get to see his beautiful daughter Olivia grow up, and that Olivia will miss out on life with her one in a million Daddy!

Thank you for reading. Thank you for helping.