Support our life-saving treatment for Sam

My husband, Keith is running the London Marathon to raise money for treatment for our wonderful and courageous son Sam.

In August 2021, Sam was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung. Following subsequent collapses, we couldn't understand why Sam didn't fully recover from his operation.

On 28th of November 2021, at the age of 23, our amazing son Sam, older brother to Alfie and Ella, was diagnosed with metastatic Intimal Sarcoma, an incredibly rare cancer. Starting in the main artery to the lung it had spread to both lungs. Sam has been told it is medically incurable.

Our lives changed beyond recognition on that day. We were devastated by the challenge of what lay ahead for Sam and for us all. We lived very much moment to moment as his situation unfolded. Part of what kept us going was the outpouring of love and support from our friends and family, who kept asking us the same question, “What can we do?”

At that time, we didn’t know how people could help, but now, over three years on, with hope and optimism, we are asking for your support for our fundraising campaign. We are raising money for Sam’s ongoing treatment and for Sarcoma UK, a national charity that funds vital research, offers support for anyone affected by sarcoma cancer and campaigns for better treatments.

About Sam.

Sam is a precious friend to so many people. A beloved eldest grandchild, the oldest of many cousins and big brother to Alfie and Ella. Our gorgeous first born child.

Sam and his beautiful girlfriend Maria live life to the full, loving each other, and living a lifestyle that encompasses all the things that are uniquely important to them. Top of the list is their adorable puppy Giddy, who they enjoy the outdoors with. Maria is a yoga teacher, complementing a regime for Sam that has included cold water therapy, tai chi, and rock climbing and more recently taken on an allotment plot to begin growing his own organic produce.

Since the day of his diagnosis, Sam entirely changed his diet and lifestyle, monitoring everything he eats, to try to understand how he can disrupt his cancer’s metabolism. As a result of Sam’s keen interest in his diet, two years into his treatment, he announced that he would be enrolling in a Nutrition and Science degree at Cardiff Met University.

Exploring alternative treatments alongside the conventional plays a crucial part in Sam’s commitment to his own health. He also has plans to enhance the health of others and would like to use his own experience to contribute to the understanding of the importance of diet and its role in the prevention and treatment of cancer.

We remain amazed by the depth of Sam’s strength, tenacity and love for life as he digs deep to focus on things that are important to him. Throughout his treatment, even during his lowest moments, Sam has found the ability to see the positive in the smallest things.

He has become an inspiration to everybody who knows him.

Sam’s treatment so far.

These past three years, Sam has faced three gruelling lines of chemotherapy at the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre on the Teenage and Young Adults’ Unit and more recently at Cardiff’s Velindre Cancer Centre, as well as radiotherapy to help pain from the lung metastases.

He has combined with a regime of off-label drugs, used in a different way to its original intended use, provided by the Care Oncology Clinic, to seek to disrupt his cancer's metabolism.

We are incredibly grateful for everything that everyone involved in Sam’s care has already done.

We have also been lucky enough to receive expert advice from specialist oncologist Professor Robin Jones at the Royal Marsden Hospital, who will add his own thoughts to our campaign shortly.

Sam has recently started a two-year programme of an immunotherapy drug called Pembrolizumab. It aims to stimulate Sam’s immune system into attacking the tumours.

Sam receives the drug every six-weeks in an intravenous infusion and has already successfully managed three administrations.

Pembrolizumab is well proven and funded for many cancers, but due to the rarity of Sam’s, we need to fund this medicine ourselves, as unfortunately, neither the NHS nor health insurance are able to fund it. Only 1 person in 1,000,000 are diagnosed with intimal sarcoma, meaning research to get answers to support new treatments is very challenging with very few patients and less investment both important factors.

As well as paying for Sam’s treatment, we want to change this so that more people with extremely rare sarcomas can access the treatment they need in an affordable way.

Our fundraising.

Keith and I are launching this fundraising campaign to raise as much money as we can for Sam’s treatment and further essential research into rare sarcoma cancers.

Our campaign starts with Keith running the London Marathon on 27 April 2025, in partnership with Sarcoma UK, who have asked us to donate the initial £2,800 for their own wonderful cause. Having heard Sam’s story, they have confirmed that all other money raised can be used for Sam’s treatment immediately and in the future.

Each administration of Pembrolizumab costs £5562 and the two-year cost is just over £100,000.

As well as the marathon, we are planning an evening of fundraising centred around the incredible work of Jose Carvalho, a relative and a talented, highly collectable potter. He has generously donated 12 beautiful pieces for us to auction at an event in early May. More on that soon.

How you can help?

Please donate whatever you can via this page. We will be forever grateful for every donation, however big or small. If you would like to leave a message you can do this via the email you will receive from GoFundMe when you donate.

Please could you also share this with your friends and networks to help raise awareness of Sarcoma UK, and to help us and Sam in our appeal.

We will keep you up to date with posts and photos of Sam's treatment and Keith's training for the marathon.

Thank you so much for your amazing generosity. Please check your junk emails for the personalised messages of thanks too.

Keith and Sarah