Many of you will know that as a family, we have previously raised money for The Brain Tumour charity as it is a cause very close to our hearts. I will be running the London Marathon 2021 to raise more funds for this charity, as I sadly lost my Dad in August 2021.

For those of you who don't know, my Dad was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme in 2018. What is this you may be thinking? This is an aggressive form of brain cancer. 75% of those diagnosed will not survive 1 year. 95% will not survive 5 years. 

Let me let you read that again. 

This is my amazing, adventurous, full of life Dad, being told this information. As you can imagine, we were absolutely heartbroken. However, together as a family, we picked ourselves up and started our fight against 'Brian' the brain tumour. 

In October 2018, Dad had brain surgery at Addenbrookes which was an incredible success, and 3 days later he walked out! Following this, Dad had 6 weeks of daily Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy and then a further 6 months of Chemotherapy. Having had all this treatment, my hero which is Mark Draper had 5 clear scans over the course of 18 months! Life was amazing. Dad was back to his usual hobbies including Squash, Daily dog walks, Water skiing, Snow skiing and Paragliding! He even walked a Marathon for The Brain Tumour Charity where we raised over £5000! Some of the best times of our lives were spent in this period of time, celebrating Dad and his fortune of being tumour free for so long! 

However, our luck ran out in June 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, when a routine scan came back with signs of recurrence.  At this point, Dad was symptom free with no signs whatsoever. He was fit, healthy and young (59 years) therefore Addenbrookes decided to operate to prevent it growing further. The surgeon was happy with how the operation went, however unfortunately, on waking, the medical team realised that Dad had dense left side weakness, indicating he had a stroke during surgery. It seemed so surreal that Dad had walked into hospital with no symptoms whatsoever, but woke up unable to move. Utterly heartbreaking for us all. However, as a family unit, again, we picked ourselves up and with determination and optimism, decided to look at the positives in the situation. The main one being- He was alive! 

Dad spent 4 weeks bed-bound in Addenbrookes before he was transferred to Beech Ward which is a Stroke Rehabilitation unit in Norwich where he spent a further 6 weeks working with Physiotherapists and learning how to move and walk again. When he left, he was able to walk short distances with a quad stick with someone assisting. 
As a family, it was a very difficult time, as being in the pandemic, visitors were not allowed. Ecstatic to have him home at the start of August 2020, as a family, we began working on Dads recovery. Being a Physiotherapist, I was in a good position to work with Dad daily, as well as support from the incredible Early Stroke Discharge Team who worked 7 days a week, helping Dad regain his mobility and function. I cannot forget to mention my incredible Mum who provided a wealth of support and kept Dad moving and occupied throughout the days. Life was good. Dad had survived 2 complex brain surgeries and we were rehabilitating Dad back to health. Again, during this time, we had some great memories together. 

However... in the early months of 2021, routine scans showed Dad had two more Brain Tumours and there was nothing else they could do.. despite Dads heroic fight he sadly passed away 6th August with his family around him. He will be immensely missed by so many. 

 Please help us fight this horrible disease by donating to the Brain Tumour Charity. We know the funds raised won't help our battle, but they will help others in the future who experience what we have. I would be extremely grateful for any donation, no matter how small. I will be running the London Marathon in October 2021 to raise awareness and raise money for this underfunded disease. Heartfelt thanks in advance for any support you can give however much. Annie xx