Bowel cancer affects people of all ages.

My father was affected by Bowel Cancer when he was in his early forties. He was working hard and had a young family to support. Due to the wonderful treatment and regular screening that he received at the Birmingham General Hospital, he continued to enjoy his life, family and friends for many years. He also continued his brilliant work in perinatal pathology until his death in 2005.

At my 40th Birthday Party, (which seems like yesterday!), I will always remember him sitting next to his brother and thoroughly enjoying a wonderful family occasion. He was a great family man and his presence, sense of fun and generosity of spirit are greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. I know that I will very much feel his absence at my 50th.

Sadly his cancer returned in the bile duct when he was 68 and he managed another 2 years thanks to the wonderful treatment he had at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and the Birmingham Queen Elizabeth Liver Unit.  He was brave and hopeful and we all appreciated the way he coped with what was a very difficult illness.

As a tribute to my father, and in his memory, I would like to raise money for OCCTOPUS, Oxford Colon Cancer Trust. Please no birthday gifts. Donations to the charity will be the best present of all.

Oxford Colon Cancer Trust (Occtopus) is an Oxford based charity with a very practical aim: to make new methods of diagnosis, surgery and treatment available to everyone with colorectal cancer and similar bowel diseases like Colitis and Crohns disease 

By helping Occtopus to fundraise you can make more people understand the disease and help us prevent it.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.