Fresh from a fantastic performance at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, double Olympic medallist and Ambassador for Brain Tumour Research Sam Reardon will be attending our London Walk of Hope on Saturday 27th September.
Sam knows the devastation of a brain tumour diagnosis. He was just 15 when his mum, Marilyn, died from a glioblastoma in 2019. He said: “I’m very proud and excited to be joining you all at this year’s Walk of Hope in London. It’s the most wonderful and very emotional day as the brain tumour community comes together.”
The talented Sing Like You Mean It choir will also be attending our London Walk, where supporters will be treated to a special performance to spur them on as they step forward to fuel hope for all those affected. The Beckenham choir released a charity single in July – a powerful cover of the 2014 Hold Back the River by James Bay – in aid of Brain Tumour Research.
Of the 46 members of the choir, more than a third have been impacted by this devastating disease – a heart-breaking illustration of the fact that one in three people knows someone affected by a brain tumour.
Among those are Kate and Emily, whose father Keith Levy, 61, a cherished member of the North West London Jewish community, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma after experiencing numbness in his limbs and face.
Despite combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Keith, from Edgware, died just eight months after his diagnosis – having become a grandfather only six weeks prior. He left behind a wife, Shelley, and four daughters: Kate, Emily, Eliza and Orielle.
Now Kate, 38, and Emily, 35, (above, far left and centre left respectively) are preparing to take part in the London Walk of Hope in Brockwell Park to raise awareness and money to help fund vital research. Kate said: “Dad’s diagnosis sent a shockwave through the family. We were very close and it was devastating to watch a once charismatic, funny man change almost overnight, as this grim disease stole him away.
“I found out I was pregnant two weeks after Dad got his diagnosis. I clung on to the hope that he would last 18 months so he would get to meet my child but, by the end, the disease had cruelly stripped away the man we once knew. There simply wasn’t enough scientific evidence for his tumour type and its’ genetic make-up. We would have done anything for more time with him.”
It’s not too late to join Sam for the Walk of Hope; sign-ups are still open until Sunday 21st September. Find out more and get involved here.
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