With his brother and mesothelioma patient, Gary “sitting on his shoulder”, Darryl Mansfield recently completed the Three Peaks Challenge to raise an astonishing £4,500 for Mesothelioma UK, all in his brother’s memory.
Gary Mansfield was a painter and decorator, running his own business in Leicestershire. Gary retired from his business in 2023 with lots of plans including spending time with his wife, two daughters and grandchildren, and visiting his son and family in Sydney, Australia.
However, whilst on a family holiday in 2023 Gary contracted covid which just wouldn’t go away on his return home and he was sent for a chest scan and it was at this point Gary was diagnosed with mesothelioma; a moment that Darryl describes as “heartbreaking”. The announcement came as a real shock as the family weren’t able to identify any particular instances where he was potentially exposed to asbestos during his working life.
A hard-working family man
Darryl and Gary were the two youngest siblings, following the death of their sister when she was 4 years old, from a family of five brothers and two sisters. Their Dad was a coal miner in Leicestershire, where the rest of the family stayed whilst Darryl moved down to London to work.
Growing up, Gary studied at technical college locally and after working for David Wilson Homes as a painter and decorator, he set up his own business with a partner and focused mainly on private decorating work.
After his diagnosis, Gary was treated by Mesothelioma UK clinical nurse specialists, Louise and Laura at the Leicester Royal Infirmary hospital. He also participated in a number of clinical trials.
Gary attended social events with Mesothelioma UK and the East Midlands Support Group with his wife, Carol. He “got a lot out of that”, according to Darryl.
Taking the path less travelled
Despite visiting the family regularly following his diagnosis to support his brother, Darryl was keen to show “what I can do to let him know I care”. So, he looked at possible fundraising opportunities.
Whereas Gary’s daughters, Sarah and Emily completed a nerve-wracking skydive to raise funds, Darryl took another path, literally!
Darryl completed the National Three Peaks Challenge around 11 years ago and although he found it to be “bloody hard” at the time, decided to give it another go to raise money for Mesothelioma UK.
The National Three Peaks Challenge involves climbing the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales, within 24 hours. The total walking distance is 23 miles (37km) and the total ascent is 3,064 metres (10,052ft) – twice the ascent of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, over a similar total walking distance.
Courageous to the end
Darryl says: “I’m a Chief Financial Officer in my day job and have a wide network of colleagues and co-workers to help with fundraising. I’m also a keen runner and despite the intervening decade since I last attempted it, I hoped that I would still be fit enough.”
Although Darryl was keen to undertake the challenge whilst Gary was still alive, his brother sadly passed away in hospital before the planned date, whilst being undergoing a further new drug trial.
“I saw him in hospital on the day that the doctors told him that there was no more that they could do for him. Despite the terrible news, he was so brave and even sent a thumbs up photo of himself later.”
Completing the Three Peaks Challenge
“After the funeral, I vowed to continue with the challenge in Gary’s memory,” Darryl continues. “I had already put an appeal out to my friends but nobody wanted to do it so I joined up with a mountain adventure company. They put me in a group with eight other people who all had their own stories and reasons for undertaking the challenge.
“We started in the morning in Ben Nevis, then an evening climb of Scafell Pike in the Lakes, coming down with head torches and a 4am climb of Snowdon.
“The weather conditions made it even tougher – driving rain, fog and wind with poor visibility, and we all got soaked despite it being early July!”.
“At 6am in the morning, two thirds of the way up Snowdon, I had one of those moments, thinking I can’t do this but then I felt my brother sitting on my shoulder – saying to me that you can’t let me down now. It still brings tears to my eyes now and probably will always do so whenever I think about it.
“I dug deep and finished what was the worst part of that entire 24-hour climb – 29 miles of climbing and descent in the end, 70,000 steps, more than 10 hours travelling between mountains, about two hours sleep. I even had a fall at Ben Nevis and seriously bruised my left arm whilst breaking the fall, but was still able to carry on and complete the challenge just inside the 24 hours.
“It is without doubt the most physically and mentally challenging event, and although only five of the original eight finished, I got through it. I received some amazing messages from colleagues, friends and family, and blasted past my original target of £1,500. One friend donated £545 alone and declared that ‘amazing things deserve amazing donations’.”
Family aims to support mesothelioma patients
“I know that Gary would be so very proud of Carol, Emily, Sarah and David for all that they’ve done to support him and honour his memory. As well as the skydiving fundraising, money was also donated by guests at his funeral and Carol organised a charity cricket match in their local village,” explains Darryl.
Since the National Three Peaks Challenge, Darryl has linked up with a friend who’s working on a new construction-related cancer fund and given his brother’s background, Darryl sees that as a fitting way to move into fundraising in that particular sector.
Darryl concludes: “I raised way more than I’d hoped by completing the challenge so I was pleased with that, but just wished that Gary had been there to see me. Carol and all of the family were willing me on all the way, though. I really hope that the donations will go some way to help others with this horrible cancer.”
