Family gearing up to take on the #Brainathlon

1 min read
This Brain Awareness Week, we’re proud to be working with Brain Research UK and Epilepsy Research UK to bring you the first ever #Brainathlon.

This new walk, run and climb relay challenge is taking place from Monday 19th to Sunday 25th April and will see participants walking 10 miles, running 15 miles and climbing 1.2 miles (by walking up 2,500 individual stairs or equivalent) to complete the full 26.2 miles of the #Brainathlon. The challenge can be completed in one go or spread out throughout the week, and people can enter individually or as a relay team of three.

Amongst those taking on the challenge is the family of Andy Ager. Andy (pictured with his wife Julie) passed away from a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour in September 2020, just weeks after he was diagnosed. His stepdaughter Abigail Lock is taking on the challenge alongside her partner Joe and Julie to raise vital funds in his memory.

Abigail said: “It was horrific to watch Andy deteriorate so quickly. He was my stepdad, but treated me and my sister like we were his own. He began to get headaches at the beginning of the first UK lockdown in March last year 2020 and then after a while started to forget to do little things like put a picture up, move a plant pot or do the cooking, which wasn’t like him. He also started getting a lot more tired than usual. The doctor put it down to migraines, but then he started being sick.

“He was admitted to hospital in August and stayed in for a week for tests. That was when the doctors said he had a tumour the size of a golf ball. They also said it was terminal. He died the following month.”

If you’d like to take on the #Brainathlon, you can register online here.

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