Gareth was diagnosed with testicular cancer last summer and started a gruelling regime of chemo at the Royal Marsden Hospital.
As a result, my sister Fi ran her first marathon in Berlin in September and raised almost £5000 for the hospital thanks to friends and family like you who generously sponsored her.
In October I was diagnosed with breast cancer and began treatment alongside Gareth. Fi immediately applied for a place to run the London Marathon to raise more money for the Marsden.
Although Gareth was considered cancer-free by the end of November, his oncologists missed clues that he was having a toxic reaction to one of his chemo drugs and his lungs were severely damaged. The day after Thanksgiving he went into respitory failure and had to be moved from the oncology ward to the Critical Care (aka intensive care) unit of the Marsden.
On CCU he received 24 hour one-on-one care from an absolutely brilliant team using the most cutting edge technology. Most patients with Gareth's condition (Bleomycin lung) are considered hopeless and only offered palliative care, yet Gareth's doctors treated him agressively because they had an oscillatory ventilator that they thought could keep him alive long enough for his lungs to heal. This special type of ventilator is most often used for premature babies whose lungs have not fully developed. It was one of only 15 in London and the only one at the Marsden. As soon as we found this out we started to raise money for another.
In spite of the extraordinary efforts of the CCU staff, the Bleomycin had done irreparable damage and Gareth died on December 29th. One thing we can do in his memory is make sure that others benefit from the marvellous technology that offered hope when it seemed there was none. The Marsden has agreed that every penny my sister raises will go towards the purchase of a second oscillatory ventilator. Thank you for your support.
With love,
Tory
Click on these links to visit the websites that have been created to share memories and photos of Gareth:
REMEMBRANCE: http://garethkingdon.gonetoosoon.co.uk/ PHOTOS: http://www.flickr.com/people/garethkingdon VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=GarethKingdon FUNDRAISING:
and saving the best for last...this is the photo montage that Wobbs put together for the Remembrance Service:
