Earlier this year, Poppy and Mia received the devastating news that their Dad, Richard, had been diagnosed with glioblastoma. In 2026 they will take on the TCS London Marathon to honour Richard, and raise vital funds for research. Poppy shares their story.
My sister Mia and I decided to run the London Marathon in honour of our wonderful Dad, Richard, who was recently diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour, glioblastoma.
He is Dad to four: me, Mia, and our two siblings, Zoë and Jake; and husband to my Mum, Amanda. We are an incredibly close family, and he has his first grandchild on the way.
Earlier this year, Dad took himself to A&E as he just didn't feel right. He was checked over but the doctors found nothing wrong and sent him home.
He headed to Greece with Mum to sail and work but still didn't feel right. After he returned home, he began mixing up words and feeling unbalanced and so we decided to take him back to A&E. This time, he was referred to the stroke team, but the scan didn’t show a stroke. Instead, it revealed glioblastoma, a terminal brain tumour with a prognosis that could be as short as three months.
But Dad shows no signs of giving up, and does not want to see or hear any mention of “three months” - we are to focus on being positive and fighting this disease beyond the prognosis, as many have done and continue to do.
Of course, we’re going to miss Dad more than words can say, but we’re so grateful to have parents who have truly lived life to the fullest. Mum and Dad have worked so hard to squeeze a hundred years of life, laughter, and memories into a wonderful 59 years. It’s too short, but we’ve made sure it’s full, with not a single regret.
He’s always done so much for his family - the first to help anyone who needed it, the one who believed in us even when we didn’t believe in ourselves. His love and care have shaped who we are. Mum and Dad were at every single swimming race, woke up at 4am five days a week to drive us to training, and even flew across the pond to support Mia in America as an athlete.
We don’t know how our time with Dad will play out. No one does. We don’t know what tomorrow brings. We can’t control that. But we can choose how we live today. And today, our purpose is clear.
Now it’s our turn to do something for him. We’re fundraising to help other families like ours - families who deserve more time, more hope, and more memories.
We’re training for the 2026 TCS London Marathon for Brain Research UK: raising money, raising awareness, and demanding change. For Dad, and for every family like ours. So far, with Dad's help, we have raised £18,000, and we don’t plan to stop here.
If our story makes just one person stop and ask themselves, “Should I check that symptom? Should I push for answers?” - then it’s already worth it. Although our outcome would not have changed if we’d known Dad’s diagnosis sooner, it would have given us more of the days we are having now - ones that are special, filled with memories, and full of the people we love.
Even in the hardest moments, Dad faces each day with quiet strength and courage. We’re so proud to be his daughters, and we’ll carry his love, fight, and determination with us every step of the way.
Dad was still training four times a week with a tumour in his brain, so running a marathon is the very least we can do.
If you would like to sponsor Poppy and Mia, please visit their fundraising page: Poppy and Mia for Dad
Every year in the UK, around 13,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour. These tumours kill more people under 40 than any other cancer, yet research investment has been far lower than for other cancers. As a result, there has not been the same progress in treatment and survival.
We have made brain tumours a research priority in order to improve the outlook for those affected. Since 2017, thanks to our incredible supporters, we have invested £4.6 million in vital research that is helping us to understand brain tumours, how they develop, and how we can better diagnose and treat them.
Neurosurgeon Harry Bulstrode was awarded a Brain Research UK project grant in 2024 for research that aims to reprogramme immune cells to treat brain cancer. Immunotherapy treatments have revolutionised outcomes in some cancers but there has been less success in treating brain tumours. With our funding, Dr Bulstrode and team are taking forward research focused on a type of immune cell that is associated with resistance to immunotherapy, to try to overcome this barrier to treatment. You can read about his ground-breaking research here.
