The Harmony Half 2020

Please support Rob to run the May 2020 Geneva Half Marathon, fundraising for ESCA CancerSupport, 24 months after being diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia.

I am running the Geneva Harmony Half-Marathon on 10th May 2020 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.