Final update: Walk now complete and it was absolute torture! See Facebook link below for a running update on how I got on. An amazing amount of money raised, I'm so proud and appreciative of the extremely generous donations. I'll transfer the cash to charities at some point soon, please fire in any final donations - every £ is very welcome. Cheers, Rich

CopItForDave Facebook

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Update: I've pushed my walk back to 6th January following the heart-breaking news that Dave passed away on Wednesday 30th November. I'm more determined than ever to complete the walk and raise as much money as possible for brain cancer charities. Rich

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The story about my fundraising is best told by my sister-in-law, Jenny, who is somebody I’ve recently realised is the bravest person I know. Please scroll down to read her story below. Her husband Dave, my brother-in-law, is currently courageously fighting brain cancer. They’ve recently launched CopItForDave - a fundraising campaign to support further treatment and some wonderful organisations who are helping them and others who are living with brain cancer.

To help with their fundraising efforts I’m walking from the City Ground in Nottingham (my team, you reds!) to Deepdale (home to Preston North End, Dave’s team). It‘s about 100 miles so will take me 3 days I reckon, setting off on Friday 2nd December.

I’m lucky enough to call Dave and Jenny my family and I’ve never felt prouder of them, and all those stepping up to support them. Please donate if you can, leave messages of support and help me reach my target.

You can continue to follow Dave’s story on the CopItForDave Facebook site which is linked here: CopItForDave Facebook

Cheers, Rich

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Jenny’s words:

Many of you who know Dave will be aware that in June 2022, he was admitted to hospital with a suspected brain tumor. Like many people living with a brain tumour, his symptoms during the preceding weeks were hard to spot (tiredness, dizziness, occasional nausea) and we were a ‘normal’ family, doing ‘normal’ family stuff, blissfully unaware of what was to come. We have two gorgeous children Harry (age 6) and Rose (age 3) who kept us both busy and Dave was excelling in his role as an Armed Response Officer for Lancashire Constabulary. A few days after returning from a family holiday to the Lake District, Dave collapsed at home, and after a trip to A&E, doctors discovered a large brain tumour in both the frontal and temporal parts of his brain. At that moment, our lives changed forever – we were told by the doctors that this tumour was “not behaving well” and he was immediately admitted to the Neurology ward at Royal Preston Hospital. In the days and weeks that followed, he underwent four major brain surgeries, a period in intensive care, and several weeks of rehabilitation in hospital. By July we were told the devastating news that Dave’s tumour was a Grade 4 highly aggressive form of brain cancer and that his life expectancy was 12-18 months.

It is hard to put into words the traumatic effect of this experience on our family. But Dave’s strength, courage and dedication in fighting this illness has made us all resolute in beating the odds, and committed to raising awareness of this terrible disease, which kills more young adults and children than any other form of cancer, and yet receives a relatively tiny proportion of cancer funding within the UK.

Throughout this whole journey, Dave, Harry, Rose and I have been surrounded by amazing family, friends and police colleagues who have wrapped around us with care and compassion. We’ve been inundated with messages of support, gifts, hospital transport, days out, meals….you name it. Dave is a proud and highly dedicated police officer, who feels a profound sense of identity and belonging to his police family. Throughout this traumatic time, his colleagues and the police federation have been right by our side every step of the way. There are really no words to convey the deep sense of gratitude and appreciation that we feel towards everyone who has supported us.

Last week marked a huge milestone for us all as Dave came to the end of 6 weeks of intensive radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Dave rang the bell at the Rosemere Centre in Preston on Wednesday in front of his family, friends, nurses and police colleagues, who have all witnessed him pull himself through this intensely gruelling, painful and exhausting treatment. We are so proud of him.

Many of you have been in touch to ask about the ways that you can support us, so today we launch CopItForDave. This is not only a place to fundraise but it’s a place to share messages of encouragement and support for Dave, and also a place that we can continue to share our journey with you all.

The NeuroOncology Team at Royal Preston Hospital have been brilliant so far – this specialist team of nurses and surgeons have provided Dave with highly skilled care. However, now that he has completed this phase of treatment we are looking to explore further options, including potential clinical trials and other holistic oncology care. Although these next steps are uncertain, we’ve set up this justgiving page to support this next stage in our journey.

We have also received support (and offers of support) from some wonderful charities including The Brain Tumour Charity, The Ben Fund, and Winston’s Wish, and we hope that CopItForDave will provide a means to raise awareness and funds for these important organisations, and other charities supporting those living with cancer.

Sadly, research on the causes and treatment of brain tumours has not progressed in the way that we’ve seen for some other forms of cancer. The field is chronically underfunded, under resourced, and under-publicised. We want to change that. So we would also like any additional funds raised to be used towards research and clinical trials (that can help improve diagnosis, develop new treatments and improve outcomes), and to raise awareness amongst the public.

If you would like to get involved in any fundraising, no matter how big or small, please get in touch by emailing copitfordave@gmail.com. To follow our journey, please visit CopItForDave on facebook and instagram.

Jenny