This year I have dedicated my summer to Cancer Research UK, and more specifically, I have dedicated my summer to my cousin Talha.
Talha was only 13 years old when he was diagnosed with lymphoma this January, and exactly two months after his first hospital appointment he passed away. His short and sudden battle served as a brutal reminder of how precious and yet precarious life is, and how cancer doesn't discriminate between age. As a young person, I sometimes naively feel invincible against disease, and I am sure I am not alone, yet 43 children are diagnosed with cancer every day. Though cancer survival rates have doubled over the past 40 years, improvements in technology and research offer new opportunities to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer and improve survival rates even further.
And so in Talha's honour, my younger brother and I are walking the Shine Night Marathon this September to raise money for childhood cancer.
Yes, you read correctly, 'I' and 'marathon' were actually in the same sentence. The only marathon experience I've had is marathoning TV shows, but I am determined to push myself and have been training hard this summer to walk through the entire night in an effort to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research.
I ask you all to please donate as generously as you can. No one has ever become poor by giving, but of course generosity is relative - every contribution really does make a difference, no matter how small. Together, our individual small efforts can and hopefully will have a long lasting and powerful effect to beat childhood cancer sooner.
