A Chatteris dad is in training for a 50K charity trek to say thank you to a brain tumour centre in Cambridge which supports his nine year old daughter Grace.
Gareth Booth, 37, will walk a section of the Jurassic coast to support Brainbow at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, a unit that relies totally on voluntary donations.
Gareth said: “The work they do is phenomenal. They have supported us and many other families with rehabilitation, physiotherapy, speech therapy, counselling and more.
“I want to give something back.”
Grace was diagnosed with a non cancerous brain tumour two years ago.
Since then she has regular assessments to make sure medics follow her progress.
Gareth said: “Grace is your typical lovable, cheeky nine year old who loves unicorns, make up, shoes and bags.
“You would not really know she is ill, although sometimes she suffers headaches.
“She is full of energy. Recently she gave a talk to her school to teach fellow pupils what it means to have a brain tumour.
“You live with the constant thought of knowing she has a tumour, but you have to come to terms with it and learn to live for the moment.”
The tumour is not cancerous but Grace remains under care so that she can be regularly monitored.
The tumour is in a place where it can’t be operated on.
Gareth said: “Grace used to be petrified of MRI scans but staff at Brainbow talked her through it, gave her a tour of the machine, eased her nerves. Now she is fine.
“Staff have encouraged her to talk about it and she has also called her tumour Tommy to help her feel it is not alien so she is not scared by it.”
Gareth, who runs his own business GEG Services, will trek the stretch of coast from Poole to Weymouth and aims to finish the challenge in 13 hours.
Two years ago he successfully completed the Yorkshire three peaks challenge in 11 hours and 40 minutes and for this event is in training on both a treadmill and walking in the Fens to build up his stamina.
• To support Gareth’s charity trek follow this link.
• To find out more about Brainbow follow this link.
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