Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Feels like yesterday that I was setting this up for the Bath Half Marathon last year but here we go again and whilst I can, I want to keep raising money for this brilliant charity who have been by my side throughout my Brain Cancer journey!

To recap, back in September 2021 I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumour after collapsing at my sons football with a seizure! The wonderful team at Southmead looked after me brilliantly and removed the tumour, with the initial thinking being that the tumour would be Low Grade but would need histology to confirm. Unfortunately histology confirmed in late October that my tumour was in fact highly malignant and therefore needed to start treatment, which began in November with the dual approach of Radiotherapy Monday - Friday, alongside taking oral chemotherapy every day of the week for 6 weeks. This phase finished on New Years Eve 2021 and then I embarked on a further 6 cycles of Chemotherapy from January to June 2022 to try and ensure that this tumour doesn’t grow back anytime soon!

Since then life has gone back to a 'new' normal, with trying to adjust to the emotional roller-coaster of being scanned every 3 months (fortunately my subsequent scans have come back stable and my last one was on Monday 21st August, so currently on that roller-coaster!!??!!) and then waiting for the results to come through as whilst I have had treatment, my cancer is incurable and could rear it's ugly head at anytime - hence the need to keep a close eye at regular intervals!!! After my diagnosis I had to resign from my job as I am unable to drive for 2 years from the end of treatment, but I started a new job in a more local school in September 2022 as a Teaching Assistant and towards the end of the year began to teach again, with the plan to continue to teach in the next academic year! I am incredibly fortunate that I have suffered no detrimental side effects from the surgery and subsequent treatment, but have seen first hand the devastation that brain cancer can cause with a close friends wife passing away from the disease in December 2022 and a friend who was diagnosed at the same time as me passing away after a recurrence in July! This has inspired me to do what I can, whilst I can and to 'keep on keeping on' - life really is short and no-one knows what is around the corner!

As soon as my diagnosis was confirmed, I reached out to Brain Tumour Support and they have been by my side every step of the way! This wonderful charity have provided me with someone to talk to, support groups to attend and arranged counselling for me - they are amazing!! Whilst I know that times are hard for us all, I also know that unfortunately more people will get diagnosed like me, families like my friends will need their support and for charities to continue to provide the incredible support they do, they need donations from the public - so please donate if you can!!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.