I thought I’d give up this year. I decided that everyone’s seen enough pictures of me running in my Pancreatic Cancer UK vest so I’d run the Cardiff Half Marathon in six weeks time for myself. I thought it would be too embarrassing to open a new JustGiving page and announce - especially to those people who’ve already supported the charity I care so deeply about - that I’m fundraising for Pancreatic Cancer UK for a third time.
But pancreatic cancer doesn’t give up. It’s still a silent killer and less than 7% of people with pancreatic cancer in the UK will survive beyond five years. A glance at Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Tribute Wall shows what this means in terms of heartache and loss.
At times it feels as if the sums I’ve raised through the generosity of others - some of whom are people I’ve never met but who have kindly lent their support nevertheless - are tiny drops in an ocean of need. What difference can such small amounts really make?
Well, one of the reasons I decided to run for Pancreatic Cancer UK again was a news story that broke this month about a pilot treatment pathway for pancreatic cancer, which could, potentially, see hundreds more patients being ‘fast-tracked’ and having surgery which successfully removes their cancer. It’s a significant breakthrough in treatment of the disease and was made possible with funding by Pancreatic Cancer UK and donations from people like you.
And if I had any last doubts about whether or not to wear my Pancreatic Cancer UK vest again, Ma gave me a bag of two pound coins she’d been carefully saving, ‘for your race’. Fifty pounds. ‘Is it enough?’ she said. Ma, I’d have run that race for 50p if I could have saved Dad’s life. But maybe, today’s funding will save someone else’s dad, mum, sister or son - and that’s a thought worth running for.
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