On Sunday, 22nd April, Emily Brown, Rupert Potts, Colin Coward and Nige Crutchley will join thousands of other runners as they set off on the 37th London Marathon. The team are hoping to raise £50k for the charity, CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading

cancer charity for children, young people and their families, and whose care teams have been providing specialist support across the UK for years.

For Emily, Rupert and Colin this is their first marathon, but Nige has already completed a couple, as he and his family work towards their long-term goal of raising £1m for the charity.

The Crutchleys first met the CLIC Sargent team in April 2011, when their youngest son, Ben, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

Nige said: “Ben will always be our youngest son – a happy, healthy, fun loving boy and best friends with his elder brother, Luke. However, it was a month after his ninth birthday party that our whole world began to crumble. Ben suffered a little seizure, which became one of many over the next few days.

“We took him straight to hospital. Before we knew it, Ben was going through a myriad of examinations, tests, scans and underwent a biopsy. A few days after the biopsy, we were given the results. My wife Su and I got the news, that as parents we had hoped so hard not to have to hear. Ben had a malignant brain tumour.

“Words can’t adequately describe how we felt at that point, distraught, devastated, shocked, angry; all of these and more. But most of all we felt that we’d stepped into another world in the space of a few seconds, one where we had no experience, no compass to guide us and nobody to turn to. Almost immediately, Ben began a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, along with a cocktail of drugs to control his seizures. In the midst of this, Sally and Ally came into our lives.

“Sally and Ally are CLIC Sargent Nurses, and they provided so much more than just medical advice. They guided us through how we told Ben’s older brother, Luke, about what was happening, explained to us about the effects of radio and chemotherapy, helped us to navigate the never-ending NHS maze and supported us through some of the darkest hours anyone can imagine. But most importantly of all, they were there for Ben.

“It was thanks to Sally and Ally that Ben was able to have blood tests and much of his treatment at home, rather than in hospital. It was also thanks to them that Ben understood and wasn’t scared of any of the treatment that he was given. They were always honest, but they always cared about and intuitively knew how precious and desperately ill our little boy was.

“Ben bravely fought the tumour that was continuing to grow in his brain. But in December 2011, eight months after his initial diagnosis, the doctors sensitively told us that there was no more that could be done – the chemotherapy had to be stopped. It was at this point that Sally and Ally stepped up even further. With their help, Ben remained at home until he passed away peacefully in our arms on 23rd February 2012, surrounded by those who loved him most.

“Sally and Ally visited us three to four times each day towards the end. Together, we had made sure that Ben didn’t have to cope with any scary machines or have people around him that he didn’t know. And they cared deeply about Su, Luke and I; they were always quietly there for each of us when we needed them the most, intuitively understanding what we were going through and making sure that we were prepared for what we had to face. They are still there for us now, over five years since we lost Ben, just making sure that we are doing OK and helping us with each stage of what, at times feels like a never-ending wave of grief.

“Lots of children do recover from cancer, but some, like Ben, don’t. Eleven families each day in the UK are told that their child has cancer – that’s eleven more families like mine who will desperately need the help of CLIC Sargent.”

The training for the marathon is brutal, with the team clocking up over 2,000 miles between them in preparation for the day.

Raising the sponsorship has been a huge team effort. Recently, the village of Mells got together at the Talbot Inn for a quiz night, and they will be back there again shortly for a race night. The generosity and hospitality of the Talbot team has helped boost the donations.

If you would like to support the Benny Boy London Marathon Heroes, you can make a donation at: www.justgiving.com/companyteams/LondonMarthon2018