My husband Jeff passed away in February when very aggressive cancer in his neck took his life too soon.

Before we tell you about what we have planned, we think that it’s important to briefly tell the story of what Jeff went through so that you know what supporting the charity means to us and how much of a difference your money could make. Just a warning that what follows is upsetting.

After first being diagnosed with stage 1 tongue cancer, Jeff underwent a major operation and a course of radiotherapy in the belief that he would be cured of the disease. In that time, we planned holidays together travelling to Japan and Florida with our children and grandchildren and looked forward to lots of adventures ahead. That was until it was cruel enough to re-emerge as stage 4 cancer that had spread to his neck within two months of him ringing the ‘Rainbow Bell’ signalling the end of his radiotherapy treatment in Velindre Hospital. 

Even with the prospect of living with incurable cancer, Jeff took everything that they could possibly throw at him and he wanted more. In the end, his body was too weak to withstand it. 

Cancer is a cruel disease but there is something very devastating and physical about Head and Neck cancer that causes great discomfort for not only patients but also carers and their families. By way of an example, Jeff had a fungating tumour on his neck that I helped look after along with a team of nurses. It grew inwards (an open hole) and fungated outwards and was constantly leaking foul smelling fluid. It was very distressing for Jeff and for us seeing the cancer grow and take over his neck making it impossible for him to eat and eventually, breathe. 

Jeff is deeply missed and leaves a massive hole in our lives. If love could cure cancer Jeff would still be with us but unfortunately there is still a way to go to treating and curing it. Which is why we have chosen to take on a number of fundraising challenges to support Oracle Cancer Trust, a charity dedicated to funding research specifically into Head and Neck cancer. Oracle is filling a ‘research gap’; it receives no government funding and relies entirely on charitable donations to carry out its vital work.

The challenges that we have lined up are:

June 2019- JCP Swansea Half Marathon #Adam #Becca

September 2019- Walking the Pyrenees mountains #Deb Alcock

TBC- Sky Diving

May 2021- The Welsh Three Peaks 

TBC- Everest base camp #Alison Kinsey #Mandie Mullen #Janet James #Deb Alcock

Jeff had such a zest for life and we enjoyed many adventures together. We will keep him close in our hearts as we take on these challenges and will keep remembering him with the biggest smile :-)

It’s important to stress that what happened to Jeff (with the cancer re- emerging so quickly after a ‘good’ diagnosis initially and the fungating tumour) is very rare and most people who are faced with cancer survive it when caught early. What is alarming is that Head and Neck cancer is the fastest growing cancer type in the UK and is set to increase by 33% by the year 2035 and so the research is needed now more than ever. The thought of our children and grandchildren enduring what Jeff had to endure is heart breaking and we really want to help combat it in any way that we can. Jeff was fit and healthy; he didn’t smoke and drank a moderate amount of alcohol a week. It really can affect any one of us at any time.

Please help us to raise as much as we can for this fantastic charity.

Thank you so much.

The offline donations include the donations taken on Jeff's Much Loved page totalling £ 3,672.00 that was set up for donations to be made in lieu of flowers at his celebration of life.