Freddie is my best friend's nephew and his family are doing their best for him to have a "normal" life for a 9 year old boy. No easy task when their lives were turned upside down in 2019 when he was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at just 6 years old. This is a rare form of bone cancer and it is a brutal disease that creates tumours in the bones and soft tissue that can then spread to anywhere in the body very quickly. Freddie has bravely endured months of chemo, countless blood and platelet transfusions, injections and radiotherapy and suffered nasty side effects - all with his beloved soft toy Mutty by his side. His last scan was thankfully clear but Ewing Sarcoma has an infamous reputation for a high chance of recurrence so he will continue to be monitored. As a result of his treatment he now has adrenal insufficiency, low thyroid levels and low growth hormones which will be managed by long term medication. The lining of his lungs has been scarred by the radiotherapy and he has also had an operation to remove cataracts.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if little Freddie hadn't had to go through all this?

Ewing Sarcoma is a cancer that is seriously under-funded and under-researched. Like many people, I had never heard of it before or of the charity, Bone Cancer Research Trust, which depends on donations for life-saving research and for making progress in improving care and support for those who have bone cancer with, of course, the ultimate goal of finding a cure.

I am very proud and honoured to have run the London Marathon in 2022 and 2023 raising vital funds for life saving research into Ewing sarcoma. Bring on 2024 and please support me by donating what you can to this fantastic charity.