A supermarket supervisor from Ipswich will take to the streets of London this month in memory of her father, who lived with an exceptionally rare form of cancer for seven years.
Kerry Townes, 42, is tackling her first full marathon to raise funds for Sarcoma UK after her father David Wood, a school caretaker, died from synovial sarcoma in 2015 – a disease diagnosed in just 79 people annually in England.
David had been suffering from stomach issues for a couple of years. He had been in and out of hospital and been prescribed antibiotics. His weight had fluctuated but after three years, following a scan, he was finally diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2007. There are an average of 79 cases of synovial sarcoma diagnosed every year in England.
Said Kerry: ‘I’d never heard of that form of cancer. The first thing I did was to Google it, which was scary.’
The tumour had crushed one of David’s kidneys and attached itself to his intestines. He had surgery to remove the tumour. ‘When he was asked if they could record his surgery to remove the original tumour for training purposes, he jumped at the chance so more research and training could be done,’ said Kerry.
He was then given chemotherapy. Kerry says, despite his illness, David always remained positive. ‘When the original treatments didn’t work, he was always happy to participate in drug trials. One of these almost costing him his life. He knew he couldn’t be cured but he wanted to make it a possibility that, down the line somewhere, someone else wouldn’t have to go through it.’
Kerry added: ‘He fought his hardest for seven years. He fought to see me get married and my first daughter to be born. He continued to work for a long as he possibly could and showed everyone what an incredible inspiration he was. Unfortunately, every treatment he tried failed and, after seven years, dad was no long able to keep fighting.’
David died aged 65 on 19 August 2015.
Kerry is running the TCS London Marathon on 27 April for charity Sarcoma UK. It will be her first full marathon. She said: ‘It would absolutely mean the world to me to be able to raise money to help fund more research into finding effective treatments not only for synovial sarcoma but for all sarcomas.’
‘Synovial sarcoma presents unique challenges in cancer treatment, with many patients finding that standard therapies are ineffective for their disease,’ said Dr. Sorrel Bickley, Director of Research, Policy and Support at Sarcoma UK. ‘The rarity of this cancer – affecting just 79 people annually in England – means it receives disproportionately less research funding and attention. We urgently need to increase investment in targeted research to develop more effective treatments for synovial sarcoma. Without this critical work, too many families like Kerry’s will continue to lose loved ones to a disease that could potentially be treatable with the right scientific advances. Every marathon runner, every fundraiser brings us one step closer to that goal.’
To donate to Kerry, go to Kerry Townes is fundraising for Sarcoma UK
