Phil Cape contacted us recently to tell us about a very special young boy, Lucas Williams.
Here’s his story,…
Most of us will have a cancer experience – personal, amongst family and friends or within the workplace. In my case, it took my father when he was 36 years old, my grandfather, a lot of my wife’s extended family; and some of the best colleagues you would ever want to work with.
But the loss of Lucas Williams almost a year ago was so sudden and tragic that anyone who heard his story could not be unmoved. Lucas is the son of a family friend. He tragically died from a brain tumour in August 2015, 4 weeks before his 7th birthday and just 11 weeks and one day after first becoming ill.
Lucas was, as he appears in the photos above, a little boy with amazing spirit – bright, intelligent, enthusiastic and hardworking. He loved playing and watching football, collected football cards; he loved riding his bike, climbing trees, playing with superheroes, dinosaurs, space rockets and Lego.
During his illness, Lucas demonstrated a humbling bravery – he never cried or complained, went to school for as long as he could; and was still able to make his family laugh in spite of how poorly he was. His teacher, Cheryl Everard at the Willows Primary School, Penkhull, described Lucas as “a shining example of how to live our lives”. An avid Stoke City fan Lucas was due to meet the players at the club’s training ground two days before he died, but sadly was too poorly to go.
Brain tumours are responsible for more cancer deaths in children than any other tumour type. Childhood Brain Tumour Research receives less than 1% of all cancer research funding. Lucas’s parents, Jo and Andrew are trying to raise £100,000 for Childhood Brain Tumour Research and have now set up ‘Lucas’ Legacy’, a registered charity, to fund research that will help to find new and more effective treatments for other children with this devastating illness.
I’ve never sought sponsorship before – I don’t like asking for money. However, at the end of August I am going to take part in the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), a 105-mile ultramarathon on a trail around Western Europe’s highest peak. Runners travel through France, Italy and Switzerland on a route with 10,000 metres of ascent. It gives me a chance to publicise and hopefully raise some money for Lucas’ Legacy.
The 2,300 starters needed to earn points from other events in order to enter the ballot – in my case 52, 64 and 100 mile events around Malvern’s Hills, the Lake District and Northumberland during last year. Around 1,000 of us that start won’t finish and whilst the winners will get around in 20-21 hours, 40 is the average and the cut-off is 47 hours. The guide-book advises short sleeps at checkpoints if you need them and not on the mountains. The weather is part of the challenge and can vary between -10c and 30c.
I thought a four miler was a “toughie” four years ago and I’m not great with heights, so the event will be a real challenge. I hope you can sponsor me to support Jo and Andrew’s very special cause. Any amount would be gratefully received and I will do my best to do Lucas proud. “
[box type=”info” align=”aligncenter” ]You can follow Jo and Andrew’s fundraising journey on https://www.facebook.com/LucasLegacy6/ and donate at https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/LucasLegacy-UltraTrailduMontBlanc2016 [/box]
