17 Apr Braintree dad to embark on Isle of Wight 24-hour coastline walk
The father of a schoolboy from Braintree in Essex, who sadly died last year following his battle with cancer, will be walking the entire circumference of The Isle of Wight on 5th May to raise vital funds for the charity which supported him through treatment.
Jake Whiteside, 16, a former Notley High School pupil, from Braintree in Essex, sadly passed away in April 2017 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour the previous summer.
Now his dad, Richard Whiteside, will be pulling on his walking boots for the 65-mile (100 km) trek, along with a 14-strong team of family and friends, navigating their way around the entire coastline of The Isle of Wight.
The walkers, who call themselves ‘Team JAWS’ (Jake’s Army of Walkers), will be raising vital funds for CLIC Sargent, the charity which supported Jake and his family through his gruelling treatment.
Their challenge is expected to take the group an exhausting 24-hours, walking continuously around-the-clock.
Despite having surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital that year, before spending the next five months undergoing radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and rehabilitation, sadly in April 2017, tests revealed that further tumours had formed. Tragically, Jake passed away at home six days after receiving this news.
CLIC Sargent provided Jake and his family with support, including the use of Paul’s House – a CLIC Sargent ‘Home from Home,’ which is adjacent to University College London Hospital (UCLH).
CLIC Sargent runs a network of Homes from Home, which provide accommodation and a calm haven for families to stay at while their children undergo treatment, helping families spend more time together and ease the financial burden of travel costs.
So far Team JAWS has raised over £15,000 for CLIC Sargent.
Emma Macdonald, Sports & Challenge Events Manager at CLIC Sargent, said: “When cancer strikes young lives we fight tirelessly to limit the damage it causes beyond their health.
We rely entirely on donations to fund our vital work and so we can’t thank Richard, Mel and Team JAWS enough for their fantastic efforts.”
To support Team JAWS go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jawstakeontheiow
To find out more about CLIC Sargent’s work go to www.clicsargent.org.uk
