In June 2005, my wife Jane was diagnosed with liver and bowel cancer. Not long after, we met a remarkable man Neil Pearce, who told Jane that, after a course of chemotherapy, he would operate to remove the cancers on her liver. Whilst he emphasised that the following 12 months would be gruelling, he was determined to see Jane at least 5 years on. Because of his skill and her determination, Jane went on not only to survive the liver operation, but several more major procedures, continually defeating cancer over a 15^1/₂ year period. A few years down the line, we discovered that Jane’s situation in 2005 had been considered so grave that several colleagues had advised Neil that he was wasting his time. They were wrong.

Jane’s fight against the disease was truly inspirational. In addition to continuing teaching and tutoring Maths to numerous students, Jane was incredibly active. She climbed the 3 highest British peaks – Ben Nevis, Snowden, Scafell Pike. She played badminton and tennis to a high level. She accompanied family members in open water swimming. She went on several Alpine Ski Trips (she had only ever skied before as a 14 year old). Inspired by our late son, Rich, she completed 107 Parkruns between 2017 and 2019. She ran three 10ks. She also encouraged me to join her on long walking ventures, including The Solent Way, The Test Way. The South Downs Way, The West Highland Way, The Cotswold Way.

Around 2014/15, we embarked on another walk, namely the 630 mile SW Coastal path. Initially, we travelled by car to starting points on the South Coast. Soon after, we arranged 4 fortnightly holidays – each of roughly 100 miles – starting from Minehead. By the autumn of 2018, we had reached Teignmouth on our day/weekend trips and Salcombe coming from the other direction. We had, in fact covered around 575 miles in all, just 55 miles short of completing the Trail in its entirety.

Shortly after, in 2019, Jane’s cancers returned. They were inoperable and again she had more chemotherapy, which ended just before Covid first struck the UK in early 2020. A few months later, the cancers attacked her brain. Again Jane fought hard, experiencing radiotherapy for the first time. She finally succumbed and died at home on 21 December 2020.

At her funeral in January 2021, I pledged to complete the remaining 55 miles of the SW Trail as a tribute to her and I invited family and  friends to join me. Any sponsorship resulting would go the charity established by Neal Pearce and his team - the Planets Cancer Charity – the aim of which is to purchase ground breaking equipment that enables surgeons to target hitherto inaccessible  tumours during operations – at least 2 million pounds are needed. 

So, between April and June 2022, I have set aside 3 weekends for 6 walks, each of around 10 miles. The organisation which helped Jane and I so much – “Walk the Trail”- has already provided an itinerary, which also includes a breakdown of each section, allowing people/children to leave the trail at certain points should the need arise. Another family friend has already offered his services to transport people off the trail at these points - or at the end of a section – returning them to their parked vehicles/overnight accommodation.

The 55 mile walk is NOT a race. Jane loved walking and enjoying everything around her at a comfortable pace. This is our tribute to her and also a very definite thank you to a man and his colleagues who took a risk and provided Jane with 15^1/₂  more years of life. Come and join in for any or all of the sections. Get sponsors if you can. “Walk the Trail” can help with overnight accommodation should you need it. We intend to complete the last section during the first weekend of June. It would have been our Golden Wedding Anniversary.