Stricken nephew prompts woman to take to her heels
Clare King, aged 39, was devastated when her nephew, Benjamin Conolly, aged 16, of Chippenham, Wiltshire whom she described as “a gorgeously handsome boy with a passion for good food, hanging out with his mates and mountain biking” was diagnosed with leukaemia in October.
After feeling under the weather and a night of severe back pain, his parents Sam and Suzi Conolly took him to A&E, where blood tests confirmed the disease. Four days later, a lumber puncture and bone marrow biopsy confirmed that the cancer had spread into into Ben’s spinal chord.
An emergency operation followed five days before the teenager’s sixteenth birthday to remove the tumour, but this left him paralysed and he remains in Bristol Royal Infirmary Children’s Hospital over Christmas.
His parents, continued Mrs King, had been greatly helped by the registered charity CLIC Sargeant, who support children and young people affected by cancer and their families.
This included locating a flat close to the hospital provided free of charge where they could stay, visiting his school to explain the situation to fellow pupils and staff and providing other financial advice and support to his parents
Mrs King, who has set up a Just Giving page to raise funds for CLIC Sargent, is taking part in Newbury Parkrun on Christmas Day and then again on January 19 with the Windsor and Eton 10k fun run.
She said: “I am not going to run just one event, but at least one every month of 2014.”
Mrs King added that she was hoping not just for sponsorship, but also that others would join her, including members of her family and even the family dog, Oscar.
“It will include my first marathon (gulp), half-marathons, 10ks, 5ks, muddy assault courses, triathlons, moon walks – in fact as many different events as I can find.”
Her friend Sarah Gillingham has raised £150 for the charity at a recent coffee morning and her daughter, Beth King, aged eight, raised £130 at a Christmas Fair at her Falkland Primary School.
For more details or to sponsor Mrs King, visit
