Rob’s Half Marathon

NOTE: Due to COVID-19, both the Geneva Harmony Half and the Lausanne Half Marathons have been cancelled but Rob did not give up and finally completed his half Marathon on 29th November

We would like to give a big THANK YOU to both Rob and his brother. Also, we would like to thank everyone who donated to this fundraiser. We are happy to report this event raised a total of CHF 4,714.

If you would like to still donate to ESCA CancerSupport please click HERE to place a donation.

UPDATE November: Rob’s brother, George, completed two half-marathons in 2020 to support Rob and raise money for ESCA CS. He said: To reflect how far Rob has come in the past few years continues to astound me. Running a half-marathon together has long been an ambition of ours, and I could not be more proud to do it on behalf of the amazing ESCA CancerSupport. Rob’s greatest strength is his mindset, and it feels very appropriate to run for a charity that looked after Rob and the family’s mental health in our toughest period. Onto the next challenge now!

UPDATE 29 November: He did it! After committing to a half-marathon a year ago, Rob finally completed 21.1km today! This is what Rob had to say:

It’s been a long year of setbacks, mainly due to COVID, and in the end, I had to walk the whole distance on doctor’s orders. I am not complaining – I am so fortunate to be here today and two years ago I never thought this would be possible. I ended the distance at ESCA CancerSupport’s stunning centre in Grand-Saconnex, Geneva, with a warm welcome from the brilliant team there.

I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that so kindly donated to ESCA CS and the amazing work they do, supporting those with, and affected by, cancer. Any donation to their work, which is offered for free, is life-changing to those they help. It certainly was for me.

UPDATE 20 October: Thing are just complicated in the world right now but Rob’s not given up yet. His new date is 29 November and ESCA CS will be behind him every step of the way!

UPDATE 05 September: the Lausanne Marathon is now cancelled as well but there’s no stopping Rob. He has his own plans in the works so check this page to see what he and his two brothers, George and Henry, come up with for the 25th of October.

UPDATE 9 May: This morning I was supposed to be lining up to start the Geneva half-marathon. Unfortunately it was not to be, though at least the sun is shining.

I made it through four months of training and a bout of pneumonia, but the COVID-19 situation has brought me to a halt. Since my immune system is suppressed, my doctors advised me to strictly lock-down and for the last 9 weeks I have been in some kind of survival challenge, confined to a small apartment with three small, over-energetic children.

The good news is that as of tomorrow the Swiss authorities are beginning to ease the lockdown measures and my doctors (perhaps fearing for my mental health!) are allowing me out at last. The half-marathon event has been postponed to October 4th (tbc) and so tomorrow training starts again.

Thank you to all those that have so kindly supported me in fundraising for ESCA CancerSupport, and I ask you to please bear with me as I postpone my commitment – I am going to complete the 21km, just a bit later than planned!

Rob’s story:

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Please support Rob to run his own half marathon, fundraising for ESCA CancerSupport, 29 months after being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

I was running the Geneva Harmony Half-Marathon but both it and the Lausanne Marathon have been cancelled due to Covid-19. So now I, along with my two brothers in the UK, will run our own half marathongs to help others benefit from the amazing, free of charge, ESCA CancerSupport services that I have been fortunate to receive.

I first stepped into the ESCA CS centre in Geneva in April 2018, a month after being rushed into hospital with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. I had just survived two weeks in intensive care followed by three weeks of chemotherapy, isolated in the blood cancer unit of Lausanne’s CHUV hospital. I was 23kg lighter than my indulgent post-Christmas peak, completely bald, and battling to keep my body temperature below 40 celsius. I was mentally exhausted.

In hospital I received the best of Swiss medical care for my body, from the most incredible team of people I have ever met. But mental well-being tends to take a back seat to keeping the heart beating and the lungs breathing. My embarrassingly poor French also distanced me from the limited mental health support on offer. Night and day, I was terrified of leaving Theo, Milo and Isabella (all three under 10) without a father, and Tamsin without a husband. With cancer the threat of death hangs around, day after day, week after week, the unwelcome visitor that just won’t leave.

Three things rescued me mentally. My brave wife, Tamsin. My spectacular therapist of four years, Margaret Curran. And ESCA CS, in particular through the amazing Antonia Calame.

That first day at ESCA CS I had a transformational hour of therapy providing just the encouragement, advice and support I needed with months of isolation chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, and a long journey of recovery ahead of me. I came to rely on regular support sessions, took part in a mind-opening Art Therapy course, and participated in their Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Cancer Patients programme, a life changing experience that has given me a group of friends I still keep up with.

Equally invaluably, ESCA CS supported Tamsin. The collateral damage inflicted on families by a cancer diagnosis can be overshadowed by the suffering of the patient, but carers equally need support to cope with the ordeal.

ESCA CS helped rescue us and it is a privilege to be able to run to support them. A big thank you from the bottom of my heart for any and every generous donation towards their efforts.