916km: Bath fire station to Lyon cycle + Lyon Marathon

In 2022, Jess was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer while on maternity leave with our youngest daughter Inès who was just 6 months old. After undergoing 6 gruelling round of chemo, we found out that her agressive cancer had spread to her lymph nodes and grown from 2.5cm to 7.5cm. She had a (emergency) mastectomy followed by 15 rounds of radiotherapy and another 12 rounds of targeted therapy which thankfully kept the cancer at bay. She rang the bell after a clear full body scan in November 2023 and we thought that was it for us… But her first annual mammogram to check her “good” breast flagged an anomaly just one month later and she was diagnosed with a different type of breast cancer in January 2024. She had a mastectomy, but then on the first day of her chemo treatment had to have a biopsie on a lump in her collarbone. A week later, while recovering from chemo, she was told she was stage 4 (but thankfully curable - which is rare in the terminal cancer world) and that the lump was a reoccurrence of her first cancer. Jess has now finished 6 rounds of chemo - through which she managed to work - and is awaiting to start 15 further rounds of radiotherapy and a full body and brain scan. We really hope that the treatments have worked and that Jess is in the clear. She will continue to have immunotherapy treatment for at least another 10 months. Cancer is happening right now, which is why I am cycling from Bath to Lyon (Jess’ hometown) in just 5 days - that’s 874.1km solo. On the 5th and final day, I will arrive in Lyon and complete the Lyon Marathon totalling over 916km. I’ve seen first hand how important cancer research is for my wife as well as friends and family who have been struck by this awful disease and I want to continue to raise funds to help develop new treatments as well as raise awareness of cancer generally. 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 if you can. Thank you very much, Matt (FF Parsons) - Blue Watch Bath