In March 2023 my amazing family friend, Jim Kell, was diagnosed with mesothelioma.
For many years Jim was a wonderful friend to my Dad, going along with his often hair-brained scheme to ‘do-up’ all manner of car wrecks that my Dad had deemed logical to buy and bring back to life!
Since my Dad died in 1995, Jim has always been there quietly in the background helping out our family in all manner of ways. His wife, Bernie, should be sainted!!
He does things in a quiet, unassuming way and would never want any acknowledgement, which is what makes him the special man that he is.
When my boys, Daniel and Sam, were still in hospital as tiny babies, I came home to find him in my garden re-laying and widening my path in order for me to be able to get the double buggy up and down it and with the help of my brother, Mart, built a gate to stop the escapee attempts in years to come. This is just who he is, one of life’s good men!
At a time, in his early 60s, when he should be busy making retirement plans for the future, instead him and Bernie, along with his children Hayley and David are contemplating a very different future. Jim is currently undergoing immunotherapy in order to slow things down.
In a moment of sheer madness, I decided (having said that I would never, ever do a marathon again – the 1st was in 2007 and the 2nd, 2014) to do my 3rd and final marathon in my special 50th birthday year, running the Richmond Marathon, London, on Sunday 15th September 2024.
Although I cannot do anything to fix Jim, I felt that something that I could do was to fundraise for further research into mesothelioma which might help to change someone else’s prognosis in the future.
You could not wish to meet someone with a more positive outlook and better sense of humour. I had threatened to carry Jim over the finish line but as he is quite a bit taller and slightly heavier than me, I decided that he might be carrying me over the line after 26.2 miles!
After months of training including cramming in super early runs before work, being whooped at park runs by my 12 year old boys and long runs which involved tackling Portuguese summer heat, the day of reckoning finally arrived.
Jim and Bernie travelled down from Yorkshire bringing my Mum with them. Having them there meant I had no choice but to finish the job!
Somehow, I got round the course in 4 hours, 29 minutes and 25 seconds. It was by no means a walk in the park and at 24 miles I did wonder how on earth I was going to make it to the end but I did.
With the support of an amazing group of friends and family I have raised over £2500 and hopefully got a lot of people talking about Mesothelioma.
