Bev's Race for Life

Cancer is happening right now, which is why I'm taking part in a Race for Life 5k to raise money and save lives. 1 in 2 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Every single pound you donate makes a difference to Cancer Research UK’s groundbreaking work, so please sponsor me now. My lovely dad passed away 2 years ago. It was a harrowing demise. He was 72. We all thought he would live as long as his dad did. His dad, Arthur, died aged 96 and that was after smoking a pipe for 30 years! I guess my dad's habit of smoking roll-ups without a filter and eating lots of processed meat whilst exercising very little really didn't help his health. This was part of dad's happy, go-lucky personality though. He lived life to the max and was a generous, gentle, laugh a minute kind of guy. I miss him terribly. He was one of my most favourite people ever. The cancer was rare and extremely aggressive. It was called Rhabdoid. We were told that chemotherapy was unlikely to help due to the fierce nature of the cancer. Dad did try one round but the side-effects were intolerable. Given that it was unlikely to help in any event, he had no further treatment. He died 6 months after diagnosis. I am forever grateful to my brother, my mum, my friends, my fiancee, my dad's girlfriend, my aunt, my children, the doctors, the nurses, the Isabel Hospice, mums at the school, colleagues at work and the other amazing folk that I met during those 6 months including the incredibly brave and upbeat patients on the ward at both Colchester Hospital and Lister in Stevenage. I am an complete advocate of cannabis oil for the treatment of cancer and hope advances are made and soon in this regards. I saw proof of this first hand from a patient in my dad's ward at Colchester Hospital, Mark. He had been functioning with only one lung for 5 years, after being given a few months to live. He had undertaken a cannabis oil trial and it extended his life considerably. Cancer also ended a great friendship of mine when my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. She survived (hurrah) but sadly the strain of this coupled with other untimely factors, meant that our friendship didn't. I hope she is doing well and hope that one day she will get in touch when the nightmare is completely over and she has been 5 years clear.