“One of the biggest problems you have as a partner is that you just feel useless” says Paul. “There was nothing I could do to help other than try and be positive. So, I realised the only other thing I could do would be to raise some money.
“We were inspired by The Royal Marsden. You leave the initial appointment, when you get the diagnosis, and you read up on it – bile duct cancer. It’s very doom and gloom and not good news at all. But at The Royal Marsden, after we had the first few meetings, it started to give us a plan and allowed us to think about the next steps. We felt like we were in good hands, and like everything was moving in the right direction.”
Fundraising for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity
Paul chose to take on the Lyke Wake Walk because he and Louise met at university in nearby Newcastle. The 42-mile route, which stretches across the North Yorkshire Moors, is a challenge of endurance which is well-known by both locals and those further afield, with people travelling from across the country to attempt the challenge.
Despite describing himself and his family as ‘very fit and sporty’, the longest challenge Paul had ever taken on previously was a half-marathon, although he admitted, “that was about 15 years ago!”. As a keen runner and cyclist, he confessed that he underestimated the demands of the walk, but he was soon humbled once he began his training.
“Initially, I thought people wouldn’t be very impressed by a walk, they wouldn’t think it was that challenging. But for my first training session, I did a 20-mile walk, and I was absolutely exhausted for a week, thinking, ‘Oh no, this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be!’. Just being on your feet all day is harder than most people think.
Taking on the Lyke Wake Walk
“The walk itself was really tough! The first 10 miles were very hilly, and then the next five to 10-mile stretch was really boggy, so we were in mud up to our shins. Then as you start to get towards the end, you can see the sea, but it never seems to get any closer. It seemed to be one foot in front of the other, wondering if it was ever going to end.”
Paul and his companions reached the finish line more than 16 hours after their 4am start. Having clocked up over 91,000 steps, it isn’t surprising that Paul was aching, although the adrenaline helped to fight off the tiredness initially.
“I actually felt completely fine the day, but by the Monday afternoon it really hit me – I couldn’t keep my eyes open! I had all the classic aches – hips, knees and feet, especially at my age – but they settled down pretty quickly. I think it has to be tough, or it’s not really a challenge, is it?"
The key to fundraising success: friends, family and work colleagues
Paul attributes his incredible fundraising total of £20,000 to his wide network of generous friends, family and work colleagues.
“Luckily for me and Louise, we’ve got a big network. Very quickly we got an incredible response – I think we were actually blown away by how quick it was. I put an initial target of £1,000 but thought even that was a bit ambitious, because so many people have problems, so why would they want to sponsor me?
“Once I got over £1,000 I was quite shocked, but it just kept going up and up and up! Now we’ve got an anonymous donor who has offered to match anything up to £10,000, so we can almost double what we have already raised. We are so incredibly pleased”.
With the addition of the anonymous donation, Paul’s incredible effort has now amassed a total fundraising amount of over £20,000. This money will help the Charity continue supporting life-saving research, investing in state-of-the-art equipment, funding modern patient environments, and helping the hospital offer patients world-leading treatment and care.
“Time is the key thing, because the longer Louise remains stable, the more likely it is that new and better treatments will be developed. Obviously, all of this takes money, so hopefully generous people keep donating.”
Feeling Inspired?
If you have been inspired by Paul’s story, why not take on a challenge event yourself?
Browse all our fundraising events, or get in touch with our fundraising team to discuss your own challenge. Perhaps you’re even keen to follow in Paul’s footsteps and tackle on the Lyke Wake Walk!
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