Hi all!

I’m doing the Stockholm Marathon in June in honour of a wonderful friend (Iain Elliott) who was diagnosed with a brain tumour last year, for the second time. 

He was previously successfully treated through radiotherapy, but now the tumour has recently returned, and has spread to the brain stem, so radiotherapy hasn’t been possible. He was given a 10% chance of survival when he was first recently re-diagnosed, but thanks to his amazing will to live, and the support of doctors, friends, and family, he has lived to fight another day. He is a total hero, and so I wanted to run this marathon to show my support for such an incredible (and very lovely) man.

 

** UPDATE 26 Feb 10 **

I am afraid I write to you as the bearer of sad news. I have just been speaking to Ron and I'm afraid that Iain is back in Frenchay again and they have learnt that the chemo has not been successful at taking out the more aggressive cancer cells and unfortunately there is now no any other treatment available.

Unfortunately, some of the worse symptons have returned. He will be there until after the weekend, after which they are looking to get a transfer up to Teeside, where Iain will spend a few days in the Hospice until he can complete a home assessment. Iain will then spend time at home until such point that they can no longer look after him at home when he will go back to the Hospice again. They can't really give any indication of timescales it could be a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, but they will try and make every effort to keep his remaining time as comfortable as possible.

I know this is very sad news, but I just wanted to tell you what Ron said to me when I was passing on my sympathies. The chemo was always only a small chance, but it has given Iain another six months in which he has had the opportunity to spend a lot of time visiting and having visits from his friends and family and there are many good memories that Ron and Norma can take away from recent times.

Love to you all from Iain.

Iain has asked that any donations raised are passed to a brain tumour charity called Hammerout (www.hammerout.co.uk) who provide support and care for sufferers and research into treatment and I know that any donations would be gratefully received.

I paid for my own entry/flights etc, so all donations go directly to help the charity.

Please donate if possible at my site www.justgiving.com/imogen-runs-stockholm

Thanks very much,

Imogen xx

 

Your donation to Hammerout will help:

fund the ongoing work of both Macmillan Cancer Relief and the UK Brain Tumour Society

support monthly support group meetings for people with brain tumours and their carers in the South West

fund pioneering research at Frenchay Hospital into effectively targeting the right treatment for the most susceptible tumours

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.