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Students support friend in ‘Mudder’ of all challenges
TAKING ON THE TOUGH MUDDER. Longridge students Campbell, Lottie and Curd are preparing for a fundraising challenge that features crawling under barbed wire and avoiding electric shocks.
LONGRIDGE Sixth Form students are taking on an extreme running challenge next year as a way of showing support for a friend recently diagnosed with cancer.
Lottie Wilson and Curd Böcker, Head Girl and Head Boy, schoolmate Campbell Thomson and friend Antonia Nicod Rogerson, who is part of the Head Team at Kelso High School, were shocked in the summer to discover one of their close friends, and former Longridge student, Sam, had been diagnosed with testicular cancer.
He is coming towards the end of four rounds of chemotherapy at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, and the prognosis is very positive. But the news floored his friends and they felt the need to act.
‘It’s not something you think will happen to you’
Campbell said:
“We just couldn’t believe it. As guys, you hear about testicular cancer but it’s not something you think will ever happen to you. We had just come back from an amazing school trip to Borneo, where we’d had a great time, when Sam got the diagnosis confirmed. We were all just in shock.
“But then you think ‘what can we do?’ And that’s where the fundraising came in and we’ve been amazed at how people have rallied round and donated.”
Lottie is a close friend of Sam’s, and has supported him as he came to terms with the diagnosis and regular visits to the Newcastle hospital.
“It was a really difficult time in the summer after Sam found a lump,” she said. “Initially, the doctor said not to worry, that it wouldn’t be that [cancer], but then in August he was told that it was and, as Cam says, it was just a huge shock for us all.
“But then it was a matter of getting on with the treatment and it has gone well. As his friends, we all felt we wanted to do something to support him and when you see how much support there is at the RVI in Newcastle, provided by the Teenage Cancer Trust, we thought we could do something to support them.
“When you see how amazing they are and all the things that they do to support patients, from just having someone there every day to chat to, to the extra things they provide like X-Boxes, Playstations, a pool table – which we’ve made a lot of use of – and even a jukebox.
“He has to stay in for six days for treatment at a time, and has three weeks between stays, and so it is not easy, but the people there are just really, really lovely people and they look after him so well, and reach out to us too.
“When he heard that lots of his friends wanted to do something for him, and for the TCT, he was delighted, really proud, and I think it is helping him get through this.”
Barbed wire and strategically placed electric shocks
Lottie and Antonia play hockey and run, and Campbell is captain of the Kelso Harlequins youth rugby team this season while Sam played for Alnwick Colts, and, with many of their group involved in rugby, there was an inevitability about the, seeking a physical challenge. But a 15-kilometre course involving 20 obstacles ranging from barbed wire a foot or two off the ground, under which you must crawl – through mud – to strategically placed electric shocks was perhaps not quite when any had in mind.
“We had to do something that was quite difficult and challenging as our way of giving something back,” said Lottie. “I saw the ‘Scottish Tough Mudder’ advertised on the TCT website next June and thought that was perfect.
“Then, I thought ‘right, who’s going to do it with me?’ and thankfully Antonia, Campbell and Curd said yes.”
New target set after swift generosity
The team set up a GoFundMe page (see here) to start raising funds and awareness of their plan and they have been bowled over by the response. After smashing the original target of £1108, set as their friend was diagnosed on 11th August, they have now reached over £2800 and have set a new target of £5,000.
Kelso RFC pledged support and there are plans for a friendly match between Kelso and Alnwick, a Berwick gym is hosting a rowing challenge in February where the team are going to row the 1000km or so distance between Land’s End and John O’Groats, in one day, and the team are organising a mini Tough Mudder – minus the barbed wire and electric shocks – at Longridge Towers School.
So, what have the students learned from this difficult period?
Campbell said:
“It has been amazing to see the way different communities have come together to support one cause. Everyone has been very generous, from the school to clubs, the general public and local businesses.
“We didn’t know how people would react to us asking them for money, but it has been amazing to see how positive people have been and how the numbers keep going up.
“It was really difficult for everyone in our friends group at first, and especially among the boys because you sort of think ‘that could be any one of us’. But now the shock has been replaced by a really strong desire to do something good.”
Important to check yourself
Lottie commented: “The first thing this has taught me has been how important it is to check yourself for things like lumps, and if you find something then speak up because it can just get worse. It doesn’t go away.
“I also think it’s good to talk about it. Since we started raising awareness, more people are sharing their experiences and, for Sam, it has made it so much easier to talk to other people, because it now feels normal.
“We’ll have conversations about it daily and it doesn’t feel difficult, and speaking to people in school about it, just, maybe, when you’re having a rough day, being able to say ‘ah, you know, he’s just going in for chemo this morning’, people are very understanding.
“Also learning just how many people cancer actually affects and who are in similar situations, that you didn’t realise; it has really opened my eyes.
“I think cancer affects about one in two people now, but it’s still not spoken about enough. And people don’t realise what charities like the Teenage Cancer Trust actually do.
“So, that’s why we’re taking on this crazy challenge and why we’re trying to raise as much awareness as we can.”
To support the Longridge team and give them extra energy for the Tough Mudder, click here.
Post / Students support friend in ‘Mudder’ of all challenges
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