The Coniston2Coniston

I am a Consultant General Surgeon at St Mary's Hospital, London. Following a melanoma diagnosis in early 2020, which caught even me off guard, I decided to do something positive to raise awareness of this deadly form of skin cancer, to help more of us understand it, and avoid it.

I am aiming to raise £20k by completing a gruelling self-designed challenge on the 31st July, called the Coniston2Coniston. I will be joined by 15 close friends all on the same mission, starting, and finishing in the same place in the Lake District, featuring a 9k lake swim, 45k hill cycle, 11 km kayak and 27k fell run.

Charity
The ‘Coniston2Coniston’ team aims to raise £20k for Melanoma Fund, a small but passionate charity that raises awareness of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer via three national prevention campaigns. Watch Your Back! for gardeners and horticulturist, Slip! Slap! Swing! for golf, and the Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code, designed to enhance the provision of sun protection to primary aged children, by sports coaches and outdoor activity leaders.

I know am incredibly lucky, due to my medical training, I was able to spot a ‘changing mole’ and act fast, however this was very nearly missed, and could easily have resulted in a fatal prognosis. I now want to ensure that those at high risk understand the importance of sun protection and skin checking, and importantly what to look out for. I also want to ensure that children develop good habits to avoid problems in later life, as happened to me. By supporting the Melanoma Fund, we can achieve this.

Me and the team are currently busy juggling training with our workloads and everyday life, to ensure we complete the challenge and hit our targets. Please support us and our charity to protect others from skin cancer. Thank you.