Gabriele's Walk 100 Miles Challenge Giving Page

Thanks for visiting my fundraising page. I’m going to walk 100 miles in October to help raise money for Cancer Research UK. Please show your support and help fund life-saving research by donating to my page. I am fund raising for Cancer Research because I believe that Science and Knowledge can support recovery from Cancer. My lovely husband was initially diagnosed with CLL ( chronic lymphocytic Leukemia) in 2009 and was given a prognosis of ten years life expectancy. After six months of chemotherapy Julian was in remission which lasted six years before he needed treatment again. During that time Jules took early retirement from his academic post at University of York and we decided to move further South. We moved to the New Forest in Hampshire. Julian's nearest hospital and consultant was in Southampton. He continued having treatment to manage the blood Cancer, CLL for another two years. He developed a strong bond with the Southampton team of specialists as he had done in York based on his deep respect and understanding of Science. It was in 2020 that our lives began to change irrevocably, as life changed for the rest of the world, Julian and I watched in horror and with deep despair as politicians floundered, families were separated, children were forced to be home schooled, hospital staff made desperate appeals for PPE...all the while we were self isolating, a deadly and rare Cancer was taking up residence within my lovely husband's body the CLL had mutated and now it was attacking his bone marrow and nervous system in his spine. Hope filled our days and nights, hope for a powerful healing force not just for Jules, but for the whole of humanity. Julian talked with consultants about possible treatment, suggestions were made but it wasn't until December 2021 that it looked like it might be possible for him to have CAR-T infusion treatment. Hope grew and filled our days, but I watched from the side lines while my darling struggled with yet more debilitating chemotherapy and scan after scan, several weeks in UCLH and a brief visit home for Christmas day. Our hearts were breaking from the strain of being apart but Jules had made up his mind, Science would win in the end...and to this day I hope and pray that Science will continue to evolve and find new ways to treat the miriad of Cancers that humanity suffers from. My lovely husband ran out of life giving breath on 14/02/2022. Please look inside your hearts and find generosity, please donate to Cancer Research to give a chance of a better life to someone suffering from Cancer, a chance of a longer time with loved ones, that was what my husband wished for and a possibility to continue his own research within his Academic Community. A colleague of Julian's said that 'He carried his greatness, lightly'...' A man of integrity, warmth and humour, greatly missed by everyone whose life he touched'. My challenge, of 100 miles is small compared to what my husband coped with in his daily life with Cancer. I am ready to leave my comfort zone behind and keep my body moving...this is for you my love, my inspiration.