In April 2016, Frank was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He was just 11 years old.

Frank joined high school with cancer, but he never let it hold him back. Just like everyone else, he wanted to have fun and didn’t want to be treated differently. His sense of humour and kindness made him well-liked by everyone around him.

When Frank and I entered Year 7, my mum, Kate Douglas, was head of year at the time, which meant she was very involved with Frank’s journey at school. Being in the same form also meant I spent a lot of time with him, and very quickly, Frank became one of my best friends.

My mum, our form, and our wonderful form tutor, Ann Hedges, alongside various amazing teachers, helped to make Frank's time at school as easy as possible for him. Frank always had a brave face, and did well to hide what was going on in his world, however, spending lots of time with Frank meant I could tell if he was struggling, which didn't feel great. I can only imagine how hard it was to balance his childhood with something so serious and I admire him for how brave and strong he was. No one, especially at that age, should ever have to go through what he had to go through.

I miss Frank a lot, I have many treasured memories of him. He took me to my first Nando's, we had a joint birthday party when we were 13, countless hours playing Xbox, cinema and movie nights. Some of my favourite memories were from school, messing about in form and lessons. These are memories I wont be able to replicate, and they remind me of the joy he brought to my life. I will always cherish the time we had together.

Frank's lovely parents, Louise and Mike, and his sister, Maisie, founded Frank's Fund, dedicating themselves to raising awareness and support for families affected by cancer. Running the London Marathon in Frank's honour is a way for me to celebrate his life and support his family's incredible work.

Please read more information below and donate anything you can; it’s going to an amazing cause.

In April 2016, just as Frank was looking forward to the next phase in his life at secondary school, our world collapsed when he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He was just 11 years old.

The next 12 months was tougher for Frank than anything we could ever have imagined: 14 exhausting cycles of chemotherapy, 2 months of proton therapy in the US and an horrific 8 hour operation to remove the tumour and a substantial part of his pelvis.

We knew we had to be strong for Frank but it worked the other way round too. His positivity, resilience and amazing character kept us all going through some very tough times.

His raw courage in learning to walk again after his operation and the way he quietly got about rebuilding his life and getting back to school were awe inspiring.

Then in September 2017, after just 5 months in remission, we found out the disease had returned. Frank was confronted with further endless cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with just a tiny chance that it could cure him. Somehow he found the strength to keep going and the spirit to remain cheerful. He just wanted to behave and be treated like any other teenage boy. If anyone asked him how he was feeling they always received the same answer, ‘I’m good thanks’, accompanied by a huge grin.

We enjoyed a brilliant Christmas together but by the middle of January 2019 Frank’s health was failing fast. Our beautiful boy’s short life ended on 9th February 2019. We are left devastated but immensely proud.

Ewing sarcoma most commonly affects children and young adults aged 10-25 years old and makes up about 1.5% of all childhood cancers. A child, teenager or adult is diagnosed with primary bone cancer every 10 minutes somewhere in the world, but primary bone cancer received just 0.027% of funding from the major UK cancer charities in 2020/21. Treatment protocols are out of date and gruelling. It’s a scandal that the lack of investment means that neither treatment nor survival rates have improved in over 30 years and that there’s so little chance of survival if it returns.

Frank would never have wanted any child to suffer as he suffered. If his death is to have any meaning at all, it needs to be to help people who are diagnosed in the future by raising funds that can be invested in much needed research.