http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/judithpotts/100243331/money-raised-for-breast-cancer-research-targets-the-new-personalised-treatments/
Judith Potts was an actress and is now a voice,
acting and presentation coach. She is married with two children, three
stepchildren and is the proud grandmother to two grandsons. She lives in west
London and Yorkshire. In 2008 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She can be
contacted at judith.potts@telegraph.co.uk and is on Twitter @JudithPotts.
Money raised for breast cancer research targets the new personalised
treatments
October
draws to an end, leaving in its wake much of the pink residue of Breast Cancer
Awareness Month – but not all. Research goes on – and amazing people continue
to pursue their aim of raising money for the various cancer centres, charities
or support groups who are working to find causes, treatments or to give support
to those with this complex series of cancers.
Etienne De Beer cycled 4,200 miles earlier in the year to raise
money for The Haven. Supported by his wife, Patricia, who had received huge
support from The Haven’s therapists, Etienne sacrificed two years of annual
leave to take part in the project and said that – aside from the funds raised –
the feedback from readers of his book about the ride, “Through Blisters and
Saddle Sores”, was the most rewarding part of the enterprise. Each one said he
or she felt “inspired to grab life by the horns”.
Ettienne is dyslexic and finds writing a challenge. He has faced this CHALLENGE and overcome it. His book Through Blisters and Saddlesores - 49 days that changed my life
is available on KINDLE 21 June 2013. Priced at £1.99 + VAT = £2.05.
10% of all profits go to THE HAVEN
ETTIENNE IS TRYING TO RAISE £100,000 for The Haven following his wife’s fight with BREAST CANCER. DONATE DIRECT TO: http://www.justgiving.com/AroundTheUKin50Days
ETTIENNE IS TRYING TO RAISE £100,000 for The Haven following his wife’s fight with BREAST CANCER. DONATE DIRECT TO: http://www.justgiving.com/AroundTheUKin50Days
Email us if you want to make a donation memoirclub@msn.com
A lady was so moved after reading the article in the
Westmoreland Gazette she wrote the following poem:
I did It for you
My beautiful Patricia
In our happy photograph
Stretching like a pink anemone
Reaching for the sun
Not so long ago I watched helplessly
As you shrank into your shell
Like a frightened sea creature
Scared, hurt, unsure
Through blisters and saddle sores
I biked for you and I ran for you
Four thousand two hundred miles for you
In forty nine days for you
A gruelling challenge we agree
And yet you say
It was lovely to do something together
For Breast Cancer Haven
My beautiful Patricia
In our happy photograph
Two heads together
Framed by one heart
I bought your book last week, and I am about half way through. It is just so inspiring to read! Well I was enormously impressed while you were doing it, I never fully appreciated just how hard it was for you. It is great to get the full story!
Now you've got my mind ticking over and trying to think of something I can do to achieve that feeling of embracing life to the full.
Benn Hartung
if you have amazon kindle you must
get this book its a true and amazing story
Gary Ingrams
Can't begin to tell you how proud
I am - You've done something very big, and then followed it up with even more
bravery and courage.. you're the man!
Mark Holtzhausen
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
THE WESTMORLAND GAZETTE
Couple's epic quest to 'give back' to haven charity charted in new book.
A GREAT Urswick couple’s record-breaking challenge has become the subject of a new inspirational book, due to be released tomorrow.
Ettienne De Beer became the first person to circumnavigate the UK on foot and bike in 49 days in October of last year.
Supported through the mammoth journey by his wife Patricia, he has written about their quest - and the story behind it - in his book Through Blisters and Saddle Sores.
Patricia was diagnosed with breast cancer 18 months into their marriage in 2009 and, after undergoing gruelling chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and a mastectomy, she found a source of hope through charity the Breast Cancer Haven.
Ettienne said: “After all the treatments were done I sat helplessly and saw my wife revert into her shell like a frightened sea creature, scared, hurt and unsure about the future.
“There is however a charity who give emotional support and free treatments to all women who have just gone through cancer. They were the magic key that helped my wife to be a strong individual again, confident and determined.”
The Haven charity, which has centres in the south and one in Leeds, provides a free programme of in-depth support to improve the quality of life of anyone affected by breast cancer. Their work is funded purely through donations.
With Patricia providing support and Jack Russell Pixy along for the ride, they raised more than £2,000 for the charity. And after penning an account of their journey together, they are hoping to further boost their contribution.In a bid to give something back to the charity Ettienne, a fitness professional, decided to embark on the record-breaking 4,200-mile challenge of biking and running around the edge of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in under 50 days.
“We would like to raise £100,000, which will help 100 women to be treated,” Patricia said. “The book is an inspirational read to encourage other people who have gone through really difficult times.
“It was a really gruelling challenge. Before this he had done an ultra marathon, which was 30 miles, but when he was running he covered at least 26 miles a day.
“When we were in Scotland he was thrown off his bike in storms, and we broke down in Carlisle.
“Ettienne has been phenomenal and I couldn’t have done it without him. I was on the floor from the chemotherapy and it was lovely to be able to do something together for Haven.”
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK
We were typical young lovers with many dreams and fantasies which clouded reality for some time. But no more than a year and a half into our marriage Trish was diagnosed with Grade 3 invasive Breast Cancer.
We were typical young lovers with many dreams and fantasies which clouded reality for some time. But no more than a year and a half into our marriage Trish was diagnosed with Grade 3 invasive Breast Cancer.
We had never had a shock like
this in our lives before. We couldn’t believe it. More so, we didn’t want to. We considered ourselves to be
generally young and active, growing our own fruit and vegetables, doing
physical labour on our allotment. Never take your health for granted.
FORTUNE FAVOURS THE BOLDIt sounds so strong and rewarding. I don’t know if it’s just me but when I hear those lines, I just want to get out there and do something great.
My manager at the time, Dan Lauder, also a very
well-travelled adventurer, had just completed an almost solo cycle from his
door in England to the Coliseum in Rome. The distance of about 1,000 miles travelled
in the space of ten days.
It is funny how life works sometimes. He had just
finished a book that inspired him to take on an ultra-marathon and asked me if
I was up for the challenge. I found myself saying yes even before I had a
chance to think about what it meant.
IN
MY PREPARATION I STUMBLED ON A WEBSITE CALLED THE GREAT TOUR, which was the
circumnavigation of Britain’s coast line by bike. It looked like a worthy
challenge and covered a distance of about 6,600 kilometres. I thought yes,
that’s something I’d like to do.
To read more about Ettienne De Beer go to his website at: http://www.ettiennedebeer.com/
Or to read more about his expedition go to his blog at: http://aroundtheukin50.blogspot.co.uk/
For his twitter page: https://twitter.com/EttienneDeBeer
For his Google+ page:
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