Our Story.

Background

Like many other families the dreaded C word can turn worlds upside down. Everything can be going nice and steady one minute and then everything comes crashing down at the drop of a hat.

Unfortunately our family has been affected by Cancer on numerous occasions and have been through the traumatic experience of loss and are currently experiencing the fight against.

We lost my mum Dawn in 2004 after a long battle with Breast Cancer. This was after her sister/my auntie Pam had battled it before her but thankfully Our Pam won her battle and is still fighting fit. The chosen charity on behalf of my mum will be “Wigan & Leigh Hospice” as I cannot explain in words just how they went above and beyond the job. Myself and my sister (Nicola) was only young at this time me being 16 and my sister 14 years old and they way they helped us and the rest of the family was nothing short of remarkable. We will always owe our gratitude to the Wigan & Leigh Hospice as my mum passed away peacefully with all her family around her. Sadly my son Bradley and his cousins Kian, Leon & Maya never got the chance to meet their Nanna Dawn.

Then in April 2022 Bradley’s Mum (Zoe) was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is currently fighting strong and after a few difficulties in the early stages things are looking positive as she nears the end of her Chemotherapy and ready to start her Radiotherapy treatment. She is an amazing person and great inspiration to other people with her positive attitude towards life. She always has a smile on her face no matter what she’s dealing with on the inside. Bradley and his sister Hollie couldn’t ask for a better mum who always puts them first.

In October 2022 I got a phone call off my Sister whilst dropping Bradley off at College that shocked me to the core. My Dad (Paddy Knox) had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in his neck, chest and stomach. This shocked me and a lot of people as my dad is such a big, strong character and it just wouldn’t sink in that he was going to go through this. My dad served 10 years in the Army but this was another fight he was going to have to lace up his boots for. That he has done and is currently responding very well to his chemotherapy treatment. My dad has support from all his friends and family in particular his wife (Tracy) and my step brother and sister (Nathan & Theresa).

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!! - SADLY ON THE 11TH FEBRUARY 2023 MY DAD PADDY PASSED AWAY. HE WAS ALSO DIAGNOSED WITH DOUBLE PNUEMONIA AND COVID JUST A WEEK AFTER SUFFERING A MINOR STROKE. UNFORTUNATELY EVEN FOR THE STRONGEST MAN I KNOW WAS TOO MUCH. WE HELD HIS HAND TILL THE VERY END WHERE HE WENT TO SLEEP. THIS MAN WAS THE BEST PERSON IV EVER KNOWN AND WAS PROUD TO CALL MYSELF HIS SON. SLEEP WELL BIG MAN YOU FOREVER BE IN MY THOUGHTS AND IF I BECOME HALF THE MAN YOU WAS I WILL BE HAPPY XXX

The Challenge

Me and Bradley visited my dad the other day and when we got home Bradley wanted to do something for fundraising so we put our heads together and thought if we are doing this then we are doing this properly!

We want to carry out a main challenge every month starting with January. See below what our targets are.

• January – London Winter Walk Marathon. - COMPLETED

• February – Sky Dive - COMPLETED

• March – Yorkshire 3 Peaks Challenge

• April – National 3 Peaks Challenge

• May – 2 Day 24 Peak Challenge

- June - Singapore 50km Kayak

• July – Manchester Tough Mudder 10k

• August – South West Coast 50k

• September – Hadrians Wall

• October – Sahara Desert 3 Day Challenge

• November – We want to walk from our charities in Wigan to Manchester Christies hospital to show support and raise funds along the way.

• December – (THE BIG ONE!!!!!) KILIMANJARO NEW YEAR TREK

We want to get as many people to join us along the way.

Friends, family and kids are also going to be carrying out other events such as “Race For Life”, “Pretty Mudder”, “Gaming Marathon” etc.

I will be also taking part in a charity boxing event in the summertime.

We intend to get sponsorships to help fund the events and then donations all go to the charities.

Charities to help organise the legalities of all this as this is new to us.

Who are we doing this for?

We want to allocate a charity to each person we are doing this on behalf of.

Mum (Dawn Knox) – Wigan & Leigh Hospice

Brad’s Mum (Zoe Evans) – Against Breast Cancer

Dad (Paddy Knox) – Macmillan Cancer Support

We want to set a target of £12,000 (£1k per month). All monies will be totalled at the end of the year and then split evenly between all charities.

THIS IS A TARGET BUT I’D EXPECT TO SMASH THIS!!!!!!!

Best Regards

Bradley's Dad (Craig Knox)