A dad is set to take part in a challenge which will see two men run seven marathon distances, in seven countries, in seven days, in memory of his two-year-old daughter, who died of a rare brain tumour last year.
Orla Tuckwell, from Hertfordshire, was diagnosed with a rare malignant brain tumour called Medulloblastoma in October 2022.
Her dad, Adam, said: "She had to endure so much for someone so young, including multiple high-risk operations, high-dose chemotherapy, countless transfusions, time in intensive care due to developing severe sepsis, and so much more than I cannot even begin to explain.
"After overcoming all of this adversity and ringing the end-of-treatment bell in April 2023, Orla unfortunately showed signs of relapse in July 2023 and, due to the aggressiveness of the cancer, passed away three weeks later."
Orla's dad, Adam, is taking on a marathon challenge in her memory. (Image: Courtesy of Adam Tuckwell)
Adam's friends, Will Ridgway and Tim Basler, are now set to take on seven marathon distances, in seven countries, in seven days to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in memory of Orla.
The money raised will be used to help pay for a new patient room at GOSH, as part of a new world-leading children's cancer centre.
The journey will start on Saturday (June 8) in London, where Adam will join Will and Tim for the first marathon distance.
Will and Tim will then travel to run marathon distances in Brussels, Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich and Milan, before finishing in Paris, where Adam is set to meet them for the final run on June 14.
Adam said: "It’s hard to describe what Orla went through during her treatment, and even harder to explain how amazing, strong and courageous she was, but one thing is clear - Orla would not have got through half of it, if it wasn’t for GOSH.
"GOSH quite literally saved Orla's life on three separate occasions and gave her the best chance of surviving this horrible disease.
"Me and my family are broken in ways that cannot be properly explained, and the only thing that would fix this is for our beautiful girl to be back with us, but life doesn’t work that way.
As a start to Orla's legacy, her family and friends are hoping to raise £100k for GOSH. (Image: Courtesy of Adam Tuckwell)
"One thing we can choose to do is honour our beautiful girl and build a legacy that she would be proud of, helping children and families similar to ours along the way.
"As a start to Orla’s legacy, we are supporting GOSH, which is aiming to raise £300m to help build a world-leading children’s cancer centre to transform children’s cancer care and help save more lives.
"We hope to raise £100,000 towards a patient room in the new state-of-the-art facility.
"Each of these rooms cost a staggering £350,000, and we know first-hand what a difference these new facilities will make to children and their families.
"The centre will offer new facilities and technology to patients, increased capacity for research, a new dedicated critical care unit and so much more."
To make a donation, visit justgiving.com/page/777.
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