John Graby
Running for Rosie & the Rants
Fundraising for The Candlelighters Trust
Story
Candlelighters support children and their families in Yorkshire affected by childhood cancer.
I signed up to run the Rob Burrows marathon with James to give a little back to the Candlelighters Charity. James & I have been mates since we shared a corridor in our first year at Manchester University (17 years ago now!).
The Candlelighters charity did so much for James' daughter Rosie & all their family after she was diagnosed with a spinal tumour in May 2020 when only 15 months old.
Since the diagnosis, Rosie has gone through two 9 hour operations, had to re-learn how to walk, and then endured 18-months of chemotherapy. This involved severe sickness and weight loss with countless hospital admissions and nights away from home, months with a naso-gastric tube, weekly antibiotics and an impaired immune system, periods of isolation, multiple blood transfusions and hair loss.
And all this during COVID, making every step that bit harder.
Candlelighters are a fantastic charity and have provided phenomenal, holistic support for Rosie and all the family. They do incredible work. As Helen (Rosie’s mum) put it:
“People don’t like to think of childhood cancer, but when you are faced with it, the impact is indescribable on the whole family. It is so reassuring knowing that Candlelighters will be there for us no matter what the future holds for Rosie – I honestly couldn’t imagine going through a childhood cancer journey without their support, and we will forever be grateful”.
Unfortunately despite hard training and an awful lot of effort to recover from his injury, James’s knee has stopped him running this time. I know he’s devastated not to make it but will be there cheering us all on.
I wish I could have done more when Rosie & the Rants were going through this, but Candlelighters are a fantastic cause to be running for and I really hope we can raise some money to help them support more people going through similar journeys.
To read a little bit more about Rosie’s journey and what the charity has done for her and so many others, this link will take you to their page:
https://www.candlelighters.org.uk/rosies-story/
I've been training hard for this and any donations for this worthy cause would be amazing for the charity and extra motivation for me as the race day approaches!