Oliver, 34, lost his mum in December 2024, just a few months after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bile duct cancer. On 26 April, Oliver will be running the London Marathon in her memory, raising funds for our vital research.
In the summer of 2024, my mum (who lived in Canada) was due to come to Europe, and we had planned to do a trip together. But she started to feel unwell. Initially, her symptoms were odd but they did not seem to be serious – she was tired and had lost her appetite. But she began to worsen and was in pain too. Medical tests showed nothing very conclusive.
Eventually, she went to a private clinic and had a scan. This showed that something wasn’t quite right in her stomach area and around her liver, and she was advised to visit A&E. Further tests revealed a mass in her liver, but at this point, it was still unclear exactly what was going on.
Having grown up in Canada, I had lots of friends there and one of them happened to be a doctor. I asked him if he could take a look at my mum’s medical reports and give us some advice. He is not a guy who likes to break bad news, so when he told me that her scans looked really bad and that I should think about coming over to Canada, I knew it was serious.
Hearing this was a shock. It was tough to be so many miles away, especially when there was so much uncertainty around her diagnosis. She was struggling to get answers and could not see a specialist for several weeks.
At some point, it became clear that she had cancer and that it was advanced. This was not the first time she had faced a cancer diagnosis. About five years previously, she had been diagnosed with bladder cancer, but back then it had been caught very early and she was treated successfully.
Now, it was a different story.
“Mum’s cancer was caught way too late”
At the end of September, I moved back to Canada and focused on taking care of my mum. I was very fortunate that my employer was extremely supportive. It was very frustrating being there – sadly for my mum, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. She had had the initial assessment from A&E, then a few weeks later she was called to have a biopsy, but there was an issue with this and her results were delayed. I remember having to fight the system to try to get answers. Meanwhile, my mum’s pain was worsening.
I was fortunate in that my doctor friend was able to guide and advise us – and having grown up in Canada, I had a lot of good friends and family around to support us.
My mum was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 bile duct cancer. It was aggressive and had already spread to other parts of her body. We were told that the only options for her were chemotherapy or some other form of experimental treatment, but by then it was too late. She had palliative care in a hospice and passed away on 20 December, only four months after first falling ill.
Being able to spend the last four months with her was very special and made up for all the years that I had been away when we had only seen each other at Christmas or for holidays. We shared nice moments together and were able to enjoy good quality time together despite her illness. Spending this time together as a family gave us all time to process what was going on. It was very hard, but it brought us closer together and allowed us to really focus on Mum.
Mum had been a scientist, although not in cancer research. So my decision to run the London Marathon for The Institute of Cancer Research is partly inspired by this. In those last four months of her life, she was still reading medical papers, trying to learn about the latest treatment options and asking her doctors what new treatments had been approved.
“We need to discover better and earlier ways of detecting cancer”
Before Mum’s diagnosis, I had no idea how prevalent cancer was, nor how it grows or what treatments are available. We definitely need a better understanding of the disease and new effective treatment options for the future. My mum’s cancer was caught way too late for anything to be done, but I dream of a world where there are better and earlier ways of detecting the disease.
I always wanted to run the London Marathon this year, but her passing has given me the extra motivation and purpose to do something worthwhile at the same time. I am running in her memory and want to do my part in helping others who are impacted by cancer and their families.
This is not my first marathon. I have run the London Marathon twice before (in 2021 and 2025), as well as the Paris Marathon (in 2024) and another marathon in France. Despite my best efforts so far, I have not yet managed to complete the distance in under three hours – missing by a minute in London last year and by only three minutes in my other marathons. I am determined to break the three hour mark this time, no matter what it takes.
So far, my training is on track and I am looking forward to the race. I am proud to run for The Institute of Cancer Research and hope to raise at least £3,000 to support the work they are doing in the fight against cancer.
I hope that, with my mum in my thoughts, I will be able to run my fastest marathon so far, while raising funds for a great cause.
To support Oliver and the Institute of Cancer Research, visit Oliver's fundraising page