Hi, my name is Steve Hartley, I'm 53 years old today (18th August 2017) and on the 14th July i was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I have a very loving, close knit family of my lovely wife and my 2 daughters (25 and 21). 

Up until around 10 weeks ago I had always been very fit, healthy and well, always worked hard and to then to be told i have terminal cancer and have a matter of weeks left. Now I struggle to get up in the mornings, move around the house, my strength and energy has vanished. To sum things up life couldn't go so bad from being so fantastic in such a short space of time. Id just walked my youngest daughter down the aisle on her wedding day, my eldest got engaged the week before i got the news of the cancer, so to say I had big dreams of another wedding and grandchildren to come we as a family were on cloud 9. It is indescribable what goes through your mind when you realise you will now never do or see these things that so many take for granted. It breaks my heart....

All families have their own games that will always be passed down throughout the years and generations. Throughout my kids childhood we played the game of the tickle monster. It was one of the kids favourite games and they wouldn't go to bed unless we had played it. Now that I have been diagnosed and won't be here to see my own grandchildren or play it with them, my worry is the tradition will die.

With such a small amount of time I have left I would like to raise money to help research into ways in which cancer can be spotted earlier. My hope is that nobody else needs to suffer the way my family and I have suffered these past few weeks, from feeling poorly to being told I had weeks to live.

Please help me and my family make my last few weeks as meaningful as possible by donating some money, no matter how big or small to such a worthy cause.

Steve 

(The Tickle Monster)