Staff and patients at Torbay Hospital’s Breast Care Unit are celebrating after £2,060.50 was raised by local runner, Colin Luscombe, at the 2017 London Marathon.
The money raised by Colin has gone towards a new garden area for patients and visitors to the breast care unit as well as planned major improvements to the unit’s entrance and reception area.
Colin completed the 2017 London Marathon in just 3 hours 27 minutes, raising a total of £4,121, donating half to Cancer Research UK and half to Torbay Hospital’s Breast Care Unit.
Last year, Colin’s mother, Linda Luscombe, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. When asked about his inspiration, he said: “When mum was diagnosed I was at a loss for what to do and how to help her. I soon realised that she needed support, someone to talk to and plenty of humour. When her treatment was hard, she needed something to look forward to after treatment was all over. I luckily got a place for the London Marathon and asked her which charities she wanted me to run for; which meant the most to her. She wanted to combat this cancer affliction, and make a more tangible, local difference to other people going through the same terrible journey.
“I light-heartedly nicknamed her chief fundraiser and from then on, when I was out on my long training runs in the dark and rain, she was there with me and we both had a point in the future to strive for.
“Torbay Breast Care Unit is very special to me, every day the staff there do an amazing job with compassion and dedication, they have given me my mum back. Thank you to them all, they are all my heroes.”
Colin’s mother, Linda, said: “I had such a shock on 3 February 2016 when I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer; you just don’t believe it will happen to you! All the staff at Torbay Breast Care Unit were fabulous, so supportive and caring, but your head is all over the place. We went outside and sat in the car trying to come to terms with what you have been told, staring at a stark building. So to us, the idea of a peaceful garden to sit in seemed a really good idea. I had a double Mastectomy on 6 May, six doses of Chemotherapy through a PIC line starting 20 June, followed up by 15 doses of Radiotherapy from 2 November until 22 November.”
Jill O’Neill, Breast Care Practice Manager, said: “This is a fantastic effort and we cannot thank Colin enough for his kind donation – the money will go a long way in improving the Breast Care Unit environment for patients and staff. This includes the new garden for visitors and the planned major improvements to the entrance and reception area. We are very grateful to Colin in considering us for fund raising.”
