Two Sheffield locals have said they believe brain tumour research is critically underfunded, and are running the city’ half marathon to give back to the charity which has supported their friend.
Eleanor Hyde raised her concerns in her GoFundMe, set up with her friend Harry Long, for the Brain Tumour Charity. It states that despite brain tumours being the biggest killers of children and adults under 40, they only receive 3% of total national spend on cancer research.
The Brain Tumour Charity provides world-class research, support and information, which is necessary for the clinical trials that have massively helped their friend, Thomas.
Eleanor said: “He’s really benefitted from this cutting-edge research, so we wanted to contribute something financially towards that.”
They have found massive support for their cause, which has exceeded what they expected, and Eleanor said that she is “blown away by the donations, it’s been really nice”.
However it’s not just about the money, they have had other people go to them with their own stories about cancer, and Eleanor said that it’s been very nice to have honest conversations with people experiencing a similar thing.
The Sheffield Half marathon, taking place on March 29th at 9.30am, is a distance neither Eleanor or Harry have run before, so this experience has involved taking themselves out of their comfort zone, to support their friend going through something unimaginable.
Eleanor said: “It’s definitely a bit scary, really challenging and really hard work but it will be worth it and we are really motivated to do it.”
She explained that she is very nervous about running on the day, as they have a lot of people coming to support and cheer them on, but that “the benefit of doing something like this for the first time will be achievement enough”.
“The consistency is really hard”, Eleanor said, but having her friend Harry there to do it with her has made the experience very positive.
They have used the time to reconnect, and having the support of Harry with her has helped motivation.
You can donate to their GoFundMe using the link below:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/sheffield-half-marathon-the-brain-tumour-charity