A man whose father died of a brain tumour is limbering up for an impressive week-long challenge to help find a cure for the disease.
On Saturday (17th August), Nick Hampshire will embark on his seven-day challenge to run from Liverpool to London. His impressive endeavour will see him conquer the equivalent of nine marathons, clocking up a total of 230 miles along the way.
It’s in honour of his late father, David, who died of a glioblastoma (GBM) in December 2011, aged 67.
Nick’s challenge also commemorates his dad’s move from Liverpool, where he was born, to London, where he settled. “I’ve taken on several challenges to help raise money and awareness for Brain Tumour Research, but this one will be by far my biggest, hardest, and most meaningful. Dad was the age I am now when he made the move to a completely different part of the country to be with my mum,” Nick said.
David’s family became concerned after he started saying strange things and experiencing increasingly severe episodes of confusion. Tests found cancer from his lungs had spread to his brain.
He had radiotherapy to treat the aggressive golf-ball-sized mass on his brain however, his cancer was unresponsive to treatment. David died just under five weeks after his diagnosis.
Nick said: “I assumed that because radiotherapy didn’t work, there would be another treatment Dad could have but there wasn’t. After just two rounds of radiotherapy, his body began to shut down and he lost his speech and mobility.
“Following Dad’s death, I became curious and wanted to know if we tried everything we could to save him. It happened so quickly that I spent time processing what had happened. Brain tumour treatment seems to be lagging behind other cancers. This doesn’t feel fair and is something I feel strongly about making a difference in.”
Nick has already reached his fundraising target of £2,740 to sponsor a day of research at one of our Centres of Excellence. You can help him go even further by donating here.
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Published Thursday 15th August 2024.