Andy's story

Sadly, my Uncle Andy passed away Monday 13^th March 2017 after his 3-year battle against Sarcoma Cancer. He was forever positive, thankful and fought right up to the end. 

3 Years ago, Uncle Andy found a cancerous lump at the top his leg, he had radio therapy to shrink the tumour and then an operation to remove it. Within a few of months, he found a second tumour in his groin and a similar procedure took place again, then he was given the all clear having regular check-ups.  He was much better and we thought he was out of the woods, however this was not the case a few months later he had a full body scan and more tumours were found in his lungs. It was very unusual for Sarcoma cancer to act like this and be so aggressive. Uncle Andy began chemotherapy which shrank the tumours over a period until they had basically disappeared. He had about 6 months of feeling fine and getting on with family life, then in Summer 2016 he began to feel dizzy, sick, and his sight was off. This was when he was diagnosed with his first brain tumour. This was a huge shock to the whole family and I can’t begin to imagine how frightened my uncle must have been feeling. He had to go in for brain surgery immediately,  this was the longest 8 hours of everybody’s lives just waiting for the phone call from the hospital. The operation was a success, he had radiotherapy for a few weeks after and then his brain tumour had gone. 

At this point it was hard for the family to relax and have a
good time because every time we seemed to do this the cancer would return. In December 2016, the brain tumour returned along with a tumour in his lung. Over the Christmas period I spent my time looking after my auntie and cousins to support my uncle in any way I could. He had another successful brain surgery. You can’t imagine so much bad luck coming to your own family. You think these things happen to other people which you read about, but not your own. 

He was out of hospital for a few weeks and then the brain tumour came back for the final time in February 2017. It was too deep to operate on, so they started chemotherapy to try and give my uncle months instead of weeks. He became so weak so quickly having the chemotherapy for 1 week until he could no longer walk. The chemo was stopped to give him a better quality of life for the life he had left. He stayed at home with his family until the end, in his bedroom which looks out into their beautiful countryside cottage garden. The garden was filled with the delights of spring rabbits hopping, birds cheeping and his willow tree growing at the bottom of the garden.

It has been difficult to stay strong but my cousins Emily now (age 13)  and Jonathan now (age 16) and my Auntie Susan need me. We have stayed united as a family and we have now decided to help towards finding a cure for this dreadful disease. We don’t want families to go through the trauma and heart break that we are fighting everyday of our lives. I want my uncle back; my mum wants her brother in law back; my cousins want their daddy back and my auntie wants her husband back. It is unfair! There is no other way to describe it. Now we want to try and prevent this from happening to others. 

Help us raise money for Sarcoma UK and help beat cancer!!

Lands End to John O'Groats 

You may think we are mad but we are up for the challenge. Myself (niece), Jonathan (son), Wendy (sister-in-law) and Josh are going to be cycling for 14 days from the bottom to the top of Britain to spread awareness of Sarcoma UK. We are hoping to raise a total of £3000 between us. My cousin Emily is our chief charity organiser, she will be holding cake sales, church and school events. 

We have already had lots of support from my uncle Andy's business partner, friends and family who are going to donate and cycle sections with us to help spread awareness. Thank you!

All donations are very welcome and greatly appreciated.