Four family members have raised over £100,000 for research into a rare sarcoma cancer that claimed their sister and cousin, Southampton teenager Jessica Trant.
Jessica died aged just 19 in June last year after more than a year of being treated for Ewing sarcoma. On Sunday, four determined family members will lace up their running shoes for the Brighton Marathon, having already raised over £100,000 for Sarcoma UK.
Jessica attended Peter Symonds College in Winchester and later St Anne’s College in Southampton. Her brother Patrick, 28, sister Claire, 33, and cousins Tim, 30, and Faye, 40, are running the Brighton Marathon for the charity Sarcoma UK. Another cousin, Darcie, 34, was due to run however sadly fractured her leg while training in December.
Patrick, from Winchester, said that Jessica first noticed pain in her upper chest near her shoulder at the beginning of 2022. Her GP told her it might be a pulled muscle but the pain persisted and Jessica was eventually sent to hospital for scans. A tumour the size of a grapefruit was detected and Jessica was diagnosed with soft tissue Ewing sarcoma in May 2022. Ewing sarcoma is a rare and aggressive cancer affecting bones or soft tissue, most commonly in young people.
The tumour was connected to her lung and spine, so could not be operated on. Instead, Jessica was given chemotherapy, radiotherapy and stem cell therapy.
At first, the treatment seemed to be working but, tragically, this proved to be a false dawn as, in January 2024, the pain returned and later that month Jessica was told her illness was terminal and she had just months to live.
Despite this, Jessica’s father, also called Patrick, said she was ‘incredibly brave and upbeat the whole way through’ her ordeal and that she was a ‘kind, funny, outgoing and popular girl, who never had a bad word to say about anybody’.
She died in June 2024, leaving her family devastated. ‘That six months in 2024 was the worst thing in the world,’ said her sister Claire.
Now the family have channelled their grief into raising funds and awareness of sarcoma and their efforts in the Brighton Marathon will bring in over £100,000 for Sarcoma UK.
Her brother Patrick said: ‘Jessica is remembered and missed every day, and we run not only in her memory but to bring hope to future patients and their families.’
Dr Sorrel Bickley, Sarcoma UK’s Director of Research, Policy and Support, said: ‘At Sarcoma UK, we’re investing nearly £400,000 across three pioneering research projects to develop better treatments for Ewing sarcoma, the rare and aggressive cancer that devastated the Trant family. One particularly promising study led by Dr Fiona Errington-Mais at the University of Leeds is exploring how ‘cancer-bursting’ oncolytic viruses could be used to directly kill Ewing sarcoma cells or activate the body’s immune system to fight them. We’re also funding innovative work on targeting fusion genes and investigating ‘cancer supercontroller’ molecules that drive this disease.
‘Stories like Jessica’s remind us why this research is so vital – she was just 19 when Ewing sarcoma took her life despite undergoing intensive treatments. Currently, there are very few effective options available for patients with this disease. We hope that, through research like this, future families won’t have to face the heartbreak that Jessica’s loved ones have endured, and that’s why we’re so moved by Team Trant’s incredible marathon fundraising effort.’
To donate to Team Trant, go to Team Trant is fundraising for Sarcoma UK
