In 1995 Ian was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Married to Sally and with three children, Ian counted himself as one of the lucky ones because he survived so long. The tumour turned cancerous 14 years later and he had to undergo further surgery to debulk the tumour as well as chemotherapy. During Ian’s last three years he concentrated his efforts on fundraising, achieving an amazing total of more than £120,000 which is being used to fund The Ian Meek PhD Studentship at Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology. Sadly, Ian died before the programme began. Throughout his brain tumour journey, Ian remained upbeat, positive and totally selfless.
Here is Ian’s story as told by his mother, Pauline...
When diagnosed with cancer don’t think of the things you can’t do, dream and do the things you can.
In 1994, while working for John Smiths in Bristol, Ian had a seizure in a car, in which he was a passenger, going off to play football after work. He had a scan and was diagnosed with a grade 1 benign brain tumour. Until that time he had experienced no real symptoms, although in hindsight he could remember having feelings of dizziness sometimes, which he dismissed as a figment of his imagination.
He worked in the brewing industry and exercise had never taken a high priority in his life, although he used to cycle to work when he still lived in Bristol. However, following his diagnosis he became more focused on his fitness, partly because of the fundraising challenges he took on and partly because he wanted to be strong enough to fight the tumour and be there for his family.
He believed that his positive attitude helped him stay well with so few symptoms for such a long time.
During the first 14 years post diagnosis, he had two operations to remove the tumour, first in Bristol about six months after diagnosis and then, after his move north to work in Tadcaster, at the Leeds General Infirmary.
In 2009, however, things changed. The tumour became cancerous and was re-classified as a grade 3. Surgeons operated for the third time. Ian was really grateful to be able to attend the first of many support group meetings organised by the brain tumour charity, Andrea’s Gift.
We remained living in Bristol, and through the charity that was Hammer Out (and is now known as Brain Tumour Support) we gained real support meeting with other people affected by brain tumours.
Ian’s wife, Sally, who ran her own business, decided to sell up so that she could be more available – she was a fantastic support to Ian and encouraged him to have his independence despite not being able to drive. Of course she had to be the one who ferried the children around to all their activities although her mum, who lives locally, was also a great help.
Ian’s aim was to raise at least £25,000 for a brain tumour research centre at the internationally-renowned Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology. As well as raising money for the lab he hoped to raise awareness about brain tumours which are often seen as the ‘forgotten cancer.’ Ian didn’t want people in the future to be in the same position as himself and his family.
Ian took early retirement on the grounds of ill health in 2010 – he had worked for John Smiths for 17 years as a brewer, so he felt it would be a difficult adjustment to no longer have a job.
Around the same time, Ian was put on a course of chemotherapy. He was lucky to experience few side effects and managed to continue training throughout it all. He couldn’t drive because of his medications but lived his life to the full as long as he could. His enthusiasm and courage in the face of adversity motivated so many people to join him in his fundraising.
Ian was inspired by Carol Robertson from a Yorkshire charity called Andrea’s Gift, and quickly became focused on doing some serious fundraising, taking on first the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk in April, which was really a training session for the national Three Peaks challenge in June. It became known as Meek’s Three Peaks. 65 friends and family came together to join him, raising an incredible £65,000. He was amazed to find that even William Hill, the bookies, donated a £100 bet on him finishing the challenge.
2011’s challenge brought together 37 people to cycle 200 miles from Bristol to Bingley in Yorkshire (where Andrea’s Gift was launched) raising £25,000.
I will always remember one day when we were at Ian’s and he suddenly said: “When diagnosed with cancer don’t think of the things you can’t do, dream and do the things you can.” He certainly lived by this philosophy and his quote was put onto lots of T-shirts which became very popular. Carol often wears one.
Ian got to meet Ned Boulting, a sports journalist and television presenter, best known for his coverage of football and cycling (including the Tour de France). Evidently Ian had quite a profound effect on Ned, inspiring him to devote a whole chapter on Ian (entitled The Meek and The Mighty) in his book On the Road Bike – The search for a nation’s cycling soul.
I used to worry about him on his bike, especially when he went out alone in case he had a seizure. Towards the end he was having full-blown fits, but even before this there were often occasions when he had “vague” episodes. On a hospital visit I said to Ian’s oncologist that I couldn’t believe that Ian was still allowed to ride his bike and she agreed with me.
As his health deteriorated, Ian lost confidence until he couldn’t even walk up the High Street to get his hair cut, although he would still go out on his bike.
I remember going to hospital with Ian to get the results of a scan. He was on Avastin at the time and the oncologist told us that because his tumour was mixed with high and low grade and different tumour types, it was partly working and partly not. I knew then that the prognosis wasn’t good. What we didn’t know, however, was that Ian had only been given six months – he must have rung her afterwards to ask. If we had known that then we would probably have rented a place in Yorkshire to be close to him.
At Easter, Ian cycled six miles to his sister-in-law’s to deliver Easter eggs to his nephews. I was worried he might cause an accident and tried to point out that there could be consequences. When I asked him who was with him, he replied: “God was with me.”
On 19th June 2012, Ian carried the Olympic torch through York – I was definitely a proud and emotional Mum that day. Ian was filmed by a camera crew sent down from Heineken’s headquarters in Scotland (Heineken had taken over John Smiths by then).
The last challenge Ian instigated was a Land’s End to John O’Groats cycle taking place in August 2012, but sadly his health deteriorated and he had to ask five friends to carry on with the event, because he wanted it to still go ahead to raise more funds and awareness.
By the time Ian was admitted to St Gemma’s Hospice, he was unable to use his left arm or leg. He used to play air guitar. On one occasion he played Knocking on Heaven’s Door. Sally said: “You can’t do that in here!” but he replied: “They’ve told me I can do whatever I want.”
Another day we received a CD of Ian running with the Olympic torch and he wanted to watch it on the TV at the bottom of his bed. The room was full – with Ian, his Dad, and father-in-law, as well as Ian’s mother-in-law, step-mother-in-law and me. We started to watch the CD and Ian started to cry as we all did, so there were six of us all upset. Ian suddenly piped up: “People who don’t know what emotion is need to join the Meek family!”
Ian passed away on 1st August 2012, on the very day the Land’s End to John O’ Groats cyclists cycled through Leeds. As the riders and entourage arrived to see Ian at St Gemma’s, they learned that they were just too late. The car park was full of cyclists and supporters all wearing Ian Meek jerseys and tee shirts – it was a wonderful tribute. The event raised a further £30,000 taking the total raised to over £120,000.
Ian’s funeral in Yorkshire was packed and his friends who continued their journey to John O’Groats, taking Ian’s Olympic Torch with them, cycled in front of the hearse.
We also had a Memorial Service in the town where Ian grew up – Yate, near Bristol, because many people who hadn’t been able to get to the funeral up in Yorkshire were asking for one. Over 130 people came and we had to put out more chairs.
During the three years he had since the tumour became cancerous, Ian raised more than £120,000 – enough to support a PhD student at the Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology. His Dad, Brian, Ian and I went to the opening of the brain tumour lab and in the spring of 2014, Brian and I along with Carol visited again and met the PhD scientist who Ian had paid for but would never meet. If Ian was still here I know he would still be fundraising.
I tell everybody how badly underfunded brain tumour research is. Everybody talks about breast cancer, but brain tumours seem to be more and more common. I am always finding out that someone else has one.
Ian was a very special man who always managed to be positive. He used to say to everyone: “I am lucky – I could have died years ago.”
Pauline Meek
June 2015