Mike and Olivia are father and daughter from Harrogate and both attended St Aidan’s Church of England High School. Frank was in the school year above Olivia and although they did not know him personally, both she and her dad have been greatly moved by his story and the way he continues to touch so many people’s lives.

As Olivia prepares to leave St Aidan’s at the end of this school year, 32 years after her dad left, they decided that they wanted to raise some money for Frank’s Fund to contribute to the amazing work it does in funding research into bone cancer. Since Mike is terrified of heights, obviously they thought that jumping out of a plane would be an appropriate way to achieve that goal!

Here’s Frank’s story from his parents….

Fabulous Frank. Our bundle of joy. Our happy-go-lucky boy. Frank was so full of life, so full of energy. He made us laugh everyday with his quirky sense of humour and his big, cheeky grin.

In April 2016,, our world collapsed when Frank 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 we could ever have imagined: 14 exhausting cycles of chemotherapy, 2 months of proton therapy 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, we found out the disease had returned. Our beautiful boys short life ended on 9th February 2019. We are left devastated but immensely proud.

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.