Together with my brother Tom and friend Laura we are running the London Marathon to raise money for Abigail's Special Fund with the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

Our daughter Abigail was diagnosed with metastastic Ewings Sarcoma on 18th June 2019 at just nine years old.

Hearing the words, "your child has cancer" is something you never want to hear. Your world literally crashes around you and life is never the same again.

The strength Abigail has shown through the brutal treatment regime has been absolutely unbelievable. She received 14 rounds of 5 different chemotherapies (89 doses), 58 fractions of radiotherapy and had an internal hemipelvectomy. Abigail no longer has the right side of her pelvis, the right ilium has been removed. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy together was an awful time for Abigail, she was so poorly. We lost count of the number of blood and platelet transfusions that she required. Abigail needed a nasogastric tube as she was struggling to eat and even lost her swallow due to the radiotherapy. Following surgery Abigail had to learn to walk again. She's one tough cookie! 

During treatment Abigail decided that once it was over she wanted to help other people and their families going through bone cancer. Abigail helped a lot with research and happily signed away her tumour and helped with new anti sickness drugs. She really wants the treatment to become kinder. She often tells people that some of her chemotherapy was developed before man landed on the moon! How shocking is that and that's why she tells people! The other reason we want to help is we are now finding out what this brutal treatment has done to Abigail. She has many lasting effects which have changed her life forever, things that she will never get back.

Please help if you can together we can change lives. I remember one of Abigail's doctors saying the treatment is brutal but so is this cancer. I am not a runner but I know I can do this marathon having watched my little girl go through this horrible regime and come out the other end still smiling and wanting to help others.

Thank you for reading and supporting Abigail's Ambition - Bone Cancer Research Trust. 

#TeamAbbie

The Bone Cancer Research Trust is dedicated to saving lives & improving outcomes for people affected by primary bone cancer. Despite being small, they fund more research projects exploring primary bone cancer than any other organisation. Other large UK cancer research charities do not prioritise bone cancer patients, in 2019 just 0.028% of their research spend went to bone cancer – not even close to 1%!Last year alone, Bone Cancer Research Trust committed an incredible £807,824 to pioneering bone cancer research - to save lives!