When six-year-old Zara Lewendon decided she wanted to help her uncle Christian, she didn’t hesitate. On Saturday 30 May, the Weymouth girl will walk the full three-mile length of Weymouth Bay for Sarcoma UK – and has already raised more than £1,000, smashing her original £250 target.
Christian Lewendon, 28, has faced synovial sarcoma three times and has a third operation scheduled for June.
It was in 2023 that Christian, an otherwise fit and active young man who was in his final year of university, started experiencing breathlessness. At first, he put this down to stress but then he started to feel a pain in the right side of his chest. He took painkillers but, when the discomfort got worse, went to a clinic to get checked out.
After an X-ray, he was told he had a hole in his lung but was advised it would get better by itself. Christian was told to come back if the pain persisted.
The problems continued so he visited A&E in November 2023. A CT scan found a 8cm mass in his lung and chest area. A biopsy was inconclusive and the initial assumption was the mass was benign.
Christian had surgery in January 2024 to remove a third of his lung. By now the tumour was 11cm.
Analysis found that he had synovial sarcoma – there are an average of 79 cases of synovial sarcoma diagnosed every year in England.
Christian was referred to the specialist Royal Marsden Hospital where he was told the operation had left ‘positive margins’ – some of the cancer was still there. He started chemotherapy with each round seeing Christian on a drip for 22 hours a day for five consecutive days.
In January 2025, the cancer returned in the same area of his chest. He was told that, during his operation, some cancerous cells had fallen into the chest cavity.
Another three rounds of chemotherapy followed. This time Christian was on a drip for 28 hours for each cycle. ‘This was the lowest I ever felt,’ he admitted.
A second operation in April 2025 went well. Life was looking up and two weeks later Christian married Maddie. The couple went on to buy a house in Hampton, South West London.
His health was clear until December 2025 when the cancer returned for a third time, again in his chest. By now, he was working in strategy and planning for Unilever and, as a private patient, was offered targeted therapy.
Christian, 28, has a third operation scheduled in June. He has a 8cm tumour that is against his heart and he has been told surgeons will have to remove part of his lung along with most of the tumour. He will then receive radiotherapy to blast what is left.
He reflected: ‘There has been a toll on my wife and family, and there is an element of guilt that people are being put through this.’
But he added: ‘If you were to tell me that the surgery will go well and I will live a full life, then I would not change what has happened. Before, I was a pessimistic person. I kicked the can down the road. This has given me a new outlook on everything. I now have closer relationships with my friends and family. I am forever grateful to all of them. I have proved to myself that I am a lot more resilient than I ever thought I was.’
It is that family togetherness that will see Christian’s six-year-old niece Zara take part in a three-mile fundraising walk for charity Sarcoma UK on Saturday 30 May along Weymouth Bay.
The walk is her idea and she will start at the Oasis Cafe and finish at Weymouth Pavilion. Her father Ryan said: ‘As a family, we are incredibly proud of how Chris has handled his journey and his strength continues to help us deal with this together as a family.
‘As for Zara, we are incredibly proud of such an amazing little lady who is willing to do anything she can to help those around her and didn’t hesitate to put herself forward for this challenge.’
The family has already taken part in a Jurassic Coast Path 100km walk, which raised £2,000, and the Thames Path ultra 100km, which brought in £4,400. Zara was a ‘cheerleader’ for those walks but, for her own walk, an initial fundraising target of £250 has been smashed and more than £1,000 has been raised so far.
Sarcoma UK’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, Kerry Reeves-Kneip, said: ‘Zara’s walk is a wonderful reminder that fundraisers come in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes the smallest ones have the biggest hearts. Christian’s journey has been extraordinarily tough, and the fact that his family has rallied around him so beautifully, right down to his six-year-old niece, is truly something. Zara embodies everything that makes the Sarcoma UK community so special – that fierce love and determination to do something positive in the face of really difficult circumstances. Every pound she raises will help us invest in research into sarcoma and support those affected by this terrible disease.’
To donate to Zara, go to https://www.justgiving.com/page/zara-lewendon
