Six intrepid and warm-hearted runners will attempt the London Marathon for Banbury boy with cancer

The six are all friends or contacts of the Croft family of Bodicote whose son Freddie was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma in 2019. This aggressive cancer creates tumours in the bone and soft tissue that can quickly spread to anywhere in the body.

Freddie underwent eight months of gruelling treatment, including 14 rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiotherapy. However three years later, his scans are still free.

Hundreds of Banbury area people have helped a charity set up in his name – Freddie’s Future – and raised nearly £140,000 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust which is trying to find new treatments – and ultimately a cure – for this brutal cancer.

Sadly bone cancer is the Cinderella of the cancers and receives only .027 per cent of research aid given by the main cancer charities.

Freddie’s Mum, Nicole Croft, said: “Freddie is now nine and he has continued to have clear scans which we are thrilled about. However, some of the side effects of his brutal treatment have caught up with him now.

"He has some low hormone levels and will have to take medication for this for life. One of those is cortisol which can be very dangerous if low or in certain situations, so it is crucial we carry an emergency injection with us and that he takes his pills. This is as well as low thyroid levels and growth hormone - all of which need to be medicated as his body can’t produce these hormones itself.

“He also has a cataract and we are now waiting for an eye operation date for this. All of these side effects were explained to us when he started radiotherapy, so were expected but are yet another example of why we need not only a cure - which is the dream - but better treatments, as there are so many side-effects for patients like Freddie, due to out of date, harsh treatment methods,” she said.

“Some of the chemotherapy drugs are over 40 years old and come with scary side effects and after everything patients go through, relapse rates are high, so Freddie will be monitored for years to come. This is all due to lack of research; this awful disease needs so much more to give better outcomes.”

Those running the London Marathon on Sunday are Mark Leddy, Jannine Paxton-Timms, Tammy Green and Kirsty Sims – all from the Banbury area – and Karen Ellis and Emma Fisher from Buckingham and Tring.

Mr Leddy said: “We first met Freddie when he joined the same school as our son. Although his parents play down all the things he has gone through some parts of his story gradually came out in conversation.

"We have been so touched by Freddie and how his amazing parents seem to cope with such a difficult situation. Freddie has visited on several occasions and is such a pleasant, polite boy - you would never guess what he has been through.

"When we heard that his mum was looking for people to run and raise money for bone cancer research I knew I had to put my running shoes back on and go for it.”

Mr Leddy’s Just Giving page is at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/markleddy

Tammy Green said: “I am 50 this year so I wanted to do something good in my 50th year. So I decided I wanted to go back to my roots and run the London Marathon - my first for charity. I have always supported cancer charities due to losing loved ones.

"I decided to run for Freddie's Future which funds vital research and support for children with Ewing Sarcoma. It is also a very local charity and I often run through Freddie's village.”

Emma Fisher said: “For many years I have wanted to challenge myself by competing in the ultimate challenge of the running calendar - The London Marathon - but I have never felt the motivation… until, that is, my friend's little boy had to face his ultimate challenge.

"Freddie had to endure a gruelling nine months of invasive and traumatic treatment which saw him hospitalised and bed ridden all too often - treatments that have not improved in many decades. I had found my motivation. If Freddie can endure, survive and rise to his challenges then so can I.”

To support Ms Fisher visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Emma-Fisher53

Karen Ellis’s donations page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Karen-Ellis26 and Jannine Paxton-Timms page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/teambonestcslm22. Kirsty Sims’ page is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kirsty-Sims22.

Mrs Croft said: “There are many ways in which the Bone Cancer Research Trust helps to fund research into better treatment and potential cures for Ewing Sarcoma but one recent example is organising scientists, patient advocates, oncology experts, pharmaceutical companies and regulators to come together at the eighth Paediatric Strategy Forum to discuss the potential of a new treatment for osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma in children.”

The meeting, held to further drug developments for the treatment of children saw 108 participants coming together to discuss the use of multi-targeted kinase inhibitors (mTKIs) in children with bone cancer. Previous research has established mTKIs as both an effective single-drug treatment, or when used alongside chemotherapy, in adults. Future studies will focus on how mTKIs can be used in the treatment of osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma in children.

To contact Nicole Croft, find out more about Freddie’s Future or donate to the fund https://specialfunds.bcrt.org.uk/freddies-future/