A TikTok star whose heart-wrenching video of him and his terminally ill wife shaving each other’s heads became one of the platform’s most-watched moments has raised a staggering £75,000 for sarcoma cancer research in an epic 24-hour challenge watched by hundreds of thousands of viewers on Tik Tok and YouTube.
Marshall Exler, 26, successfully completed 100,000 steps on a treadmill in a gruelling fundraising marathon for Sarcoma UK, channeling the grief from losing his beloved Faye into a charitable triumph that has captured the nation’s attention.
The Buckinghamshire-based influencer, who boasts over 495,000 TikTok followers, originally shot to viral fame last year when an emotional video of the couple taking turns to shave each other’s heads during Faye’s chemotherapy treatment garnered an extraordinary 33 million views worldwide. At his wife’s funeral in December, Marshall’s heart-wrenching eulogy was watched by over 24 million people.
Now, just months after Faye’s death from an ultra-rare form of sarcoma that spread to 12 places in her body, Marshall has transformed his personal tragedy into hope for others battling the devastating disease.
The livestreamed challenge, broadcast across TikTok and YouTube, saw Marshall joined by fellow social media personalities throughout the 24-hour challenge. But it was the final 10,000 steps – originally planned to be completed alongside Faye before her death in December – that proved most poignant as he crossed the finish line alone, carrying forward her memory and determination.
‘Faye is, was and always will be, the strongest person I have ever known,’ Marshall said in tribute after her death. ‘She fought this cancer head-on and never turned away or cowered. She took every setback as a challenge and my brave girl fought amazingly until the very, very end.’
Faye, a marketing executive for a pet insurance company, first noticed a lump on her inner thigh in 2023. Despite being initially dismissed by doctors due to her young age, her persistence in seeking answers led to a devastating sarcoma diagnosis in August 2023 – a cancer so rare that even medical experts couldn’t determine its exact subtype.
What began as a 20p coin-sized lump grew to eight centimetres before surgery and radiotherapy. The couple moved in together believing the worst was over, but a March 2024 check-up revealed the cancer had spread to both lungs and was incurable. The disease later reached her brain, affecting her speech and movement, before ultimately spreading to 12 locations throughout her body. Marshall and Faye got married in November last year (Tiktok has videos of the wedding) but she died just four weeks later.
Marshall, who had been with Faye for five years and seven days, described her as the ‘most caring person’ he had ever met, crediting her with helping him mature from a ‘childish’ 20-year-old into the man he became.
The fundraising marathon represents not just a physical challenge but a mission to raise awareness of sarcoma – a group of about 100 different cancer subtypes that can affect any part of the body but remain largely unknown to the public.
‘It’s like when you buy a car and you then see that make of car everywhere,’ Marshall explained. ‘I want to make a dent in the right direction to help raise awareness of sarcoma and get it known.’
Kerry Reeves-Kneip, Director of Fundraising and Communications at Sarcoma UK, was presented with a cheque. She praised Marshall’s efforts: ‘Marshall’s determination to turn his devastating loss into hope for others exemplifies the courage we often see in our sarcoma community. Faye’s story shows the brutal reality of ultra-rare sarcomas, where patients face the unknown with little hope. The heartbreak is that, with more research funding, we could give patients like Faye better answers, better treatments, and most importantly, better outcomes. We are very grateful to Marshall for doing this incredible challenge.’
To donate to Marshall’s JustGiving page, please go to:
