Story
On 1 February 2026, my Dad was diagnosed with a grade 4 brain tumour (glioblastoma/GBM) - the most aggressive type of brain cancer. Two weeks later, my Dad had urgent surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible. Whilst surgery was successful, the day before Dad's surgery was scheduled, his health insurance provider declined to cover it - despite having given us prior assurances that it would. With no time to appeal, or to find an alternative option given the urgency of the surgery, we paid £45,000 using collective family savings - because there was simply no other choice. Whilst we do not regret it for a single second, it means we have already given close to everything we have.
Dad is now undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which is due to finish in 2 weeks. Whilst we are very grateful for this NHS therapy he has received, once standard treatment is exhausted, options in the UK are severely limited due to lack of public funding and the NHS pathway, at that point, runs out of road. GBM is one of the hardest cancers to treat, and the standard of care (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy) has not meaningfully changed in nearly 20 years. What is emerging, at specialist centres in Europe, is personalised immunotherapy: a cutting-edge treatment that uses Dad’s own tumour profile to train his immune system to fight the cancer. Data is beginning to show significantly better outcomes for patients like my Dad with this approach, but it is not yet available on the NHS. For families in our position, that means travelling abroad and funding it ourselves.
Immunotherapy treatments can cost up to £200,000 per cycle, but we have found an alternative in Tübingen, Germany, where the initial course of treatment costs €80,000, with further booster treatments costing around €60,000. We have already paid €30,000 towards the initial treatment via loans and remaining savings, and we are committed to continuing to contribute what we can for as long as we are able to. However, given the large continuous cost of this therapy, this fundraiser is our way of bridging the gap between what we have and what we will need to pay. Every penny raised will go directly towards Dad's treatment and the travel costs to complete each of the various trips Germany. If we exceed our target all proceeds will go straight to The Brain Tumour Charity.
Dad has given everything to his family and has always instilled in us values of determination and compassion, including a love for his city, Coventry, and his football club, Coventry City FC. You don't have to follow football to understand what it means to support something through the hard years - relegations, failed promotions, every season that promised and didn't deliver and then to finally see it rewarded. This year, his club made it to the Premier League and we want Dad to push through just like Coventry City has. Whilst my brothers and I can't change what GBM is, nor the circumstances that have led us here today, what we can change is how we react: we can get on a bike, and we can run, and we can do it with the support of anyone who has ever believed in something or someone battling against the odds.
I'm cycling from the CBS Arena, Coventry City FC’s home, all the way to the Premier League's headquarters in London. 112 miles, in one day. After that, I’m cycling from the Premier League’s headquarters to as many Premier League grounds across the country on subsequent weekends. My brother is taking on a similar challenge: he's running from Highfield Road, Coventry’s former home, where Dad watched the Sky Blues for decades, all the way to the CBS Arena, and he's going to do it every weekend, as many times as he possibly can between now and the first game of the Premier League season.
Every donation, however small, brings us closer to Dad's immunotherapy treatment in Germany. And if donating isn't possible right now, sharing this page costs nothing and could make all the difference. A single share could reach the person who puts us over the line.
We'll be posting updates throughout - every mile cycled, every run completed on our Instagram page (@skybluemilesfordad) linked below. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts. Every single person who has read this, donated, or shared it has played a part in Dad's fight - we will never forget that.
https://www.instagram.com/skybluemilesfordad?igsh=MTZ3NTA1Z3Jia29kNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Listed below are also links to the company administering the immunotherapy treatment and the related studies that have been conducted:
https://cegat.com/real-world-data-on-personalized-immunotherapy-for-glioblastoma/
