Hi Everyone and thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Just to give you a quick history of my situation. I'd been treated and given the all clear for Melanoma back in 2005 when i had a cancerous mole removed from my jawline, but in Decemeber 2011, a lump appeared in my neck near the site of the original mole and Istarted to suffer from abdominal problems.

On the 14th of January this year, after some tests/scans/ biopsies, I was diagnosed with  Metastic Melanoma (a form of terminal cancer) with a bleak life expectancy of 6 months. You can imagine my shock at this news at the age of 38. Since then, i was referred to the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow to see if I qualified for a new melanoma drug trial currently running that could potentially extend my life expectancy slightly, but unfortunately, not change the final outcome. This was pretty much the only positive thing to focus on at this point. Luckily, if there is such a word for all this, I had the specific BRAF protein mutation that allowed me to qualify for the trial. I started the trial on the 13th of February and have since spent the majority of my time either in/out  the Clinical Research Unit as an out-patient or as an in-patient in ward B1.

Over this time, I have had to rely on the expertise and amazing patient care from the medical staff here, but also experience first hand their willingness to go the extra mile for their patients. The staff really could not do any more for their patients. As a result, and while i am still physically able, I want to give something back to the Beatson Unit by raising awareness of their hard work in research and cancer treatment while fundraising for additional equipment, staff training and research that their funding doesn't otherwise cover.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.