Ethan Casement, 19, from Witham St Hughs, is raising funds for CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, by tackling Kinder Scout on June 22 to help fund research to improve understanding of children's brain tumours and to find new, less damaging treatments for them.
His friend, Charlie Dowdall, 13, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2014 and has undergone multiple treatments and brain surgery. He is also now registered visually impaired as a result of his cancer and its treatment.
Ethan first met Charlie at a Lincoln City football match, with Ethan then working for the club as a hospitality manager, and Charlie in attendance with his parents, Ricky and Kelly. The pair struck up an immediate rapport, with Ethan describing the teen as “a real character”, who is “a very upbeat boy despite his hardships in life”.
He said:
From the moment I met him, we just took to each other, and we've got on really well.
Determined to do something to help others like Charlie and his family, Ethan struck upon the idea of the blindfolded hike, as a way to help Charlie feel supported through difficult times.
Ethan, who will be joined on the hike by friends Elijah Cham and Arlen Newton to provide safety support, said:
I wanted to do something that kind of represented Charlie’s daily struggle with life. A bit of a show of solidarity. It’s going to be really difficult, but I'm actually looking forward to the struggle of it, to be appreciative of the challenges Charlie faces.
Ethan and Arlen on a training hike
As well as funding research, CCLG is the UK and Ireland’s only membership organisation for those involved in the treatment and care of children and young people with cancer, bringing together experts to drive progress.
It also produces trusted information and guidance for children and young people with cancer, their families, and everyone supporting them, to help navigate the challenges of cancer and its impact.
Ethan, who now works as a supervisor at a telecommunications company, said he chose CCLG to fundraise for as it’s a charity that Charlie’s family said had supported them after his diagnosis.
He said: “I asked Charlie’s family which charity had supported them the most and his mum and dad said that CCLG has supported them directly and been quite a big part in his journey. This is driving me to raise as much as I can and raise awareness for CCLG as well.”
In addition to the hike, Ethan also recently organised a charity football match, in front of more than 200 spectators at Lincoln City’s LNER Stadium, to boost his fundraising total. The match brought in an additional £2,000, to take Ethan’s fundraising so far to more than £3,500.
Ethan said: “It was a brilliant day. I just want to say a massive thank you to those who have donated.
“It’s nice to know we’ve got the support of so many people.”
Hannah Ortega, of CCLG’s fundraising team, said:
We’d like to say a huge thank you and good luck to Ethan and team for their incredible challenge in support of Charlie and other children and young people with brain tumours. Their efforts will help us to continue to fund groundbreaking research, to progress both treatment and care so that not only more children and young people with brain tumours survive, but they do so free from life-altering side effects.