Schoolboy’s swimming quest in memory of mum
Sam Bromley and his best friend Luke Turner from Chapetown who are swimming 5000metres to raise money for cancer charities after Lukes mum Joanne died from the disease
A DETERMINED young boy is making a splash to help find a cure for cancer after his mum lost her brave battle with the disease.
Nine-year-old Luke Turner will swim more than a mile with his best pal Sam Bromley in memory of mum Joanne, who died of breast cancer just before her 40th birthday, two years ago.
Lee Turner, Luke’s proud dad, says the schoolboys have taken on the challenge for Marie Curie Cancer Care with the same strength shown by wife Joanne,
Lee, of Hesley Grove, Chapeltown, added: “When Luke hears the word cancer now, he’s like ‘we’ve got to get rid of this’.
“We put a memorial in the paper and in it he said he hopes they find a cure for cancer, because nobody should go through what we have to.
“You can just see the determination in his eyes because he’s not going to let people down, he knows what it means to people and in relation to his mum.”
Joanne was diagnosed with breast cancer when Luke was just three.
She continued to work and volunteer for schools through a mastectomy, courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but sadly lost her fight, dying in hospital in January 2010 when Luke was seven.
Luke and Sam, pupils at Lound Junior School, are diving in to the world’s biggest fundraising swim – The Swimathon Weekend.
And they are hard at work training for the challenge at Chapeltown Swimming Baths, which will see them swim about a mile and a half, having already raised about half of their £400 target.
IT contracts manager Lee, 41, said: “He will swim and swim, he says he must finish.
“When I come home from work and he’s training on the Nintendo Wii Fit because he wants to get muscles, it does bring a smile to your face.
“He wants to raise as much money as possible because it is important to his mum and because it may help someone else with cancer.”
The swimathon takes place on Saturday, April 28.
n To sponsor the boys, visit www.swimathon.org and search for their names.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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