Three brothers-in-law take Cotswold Way to help find cure for disease which took loved ones' life
Three brothers-in-law have taken on the Cotswold Way to help find a cure for the devastating disease which took their loved ones' life.
Ges O’Mahony's brother, Kev O’Mahoney, died from a brain tumour in May 2019.
Ges, from Cannock, was accompanied by his brother-in-law Jim Cowdell from Cannock, and Jim’s brother-in-law Steve Evans from Newtown in Wales.
The group covered a total distance of more than 180km in seven days, starting on October 3 and finishing on October 9.
Another brother-in-law of Jim’s, Dav Cowdell-Smith, also joined in the mammoth walking challenge for the last two days.
A construction contractor, drummer and rock music enthusiast from Cannock, Kev was diagnosed with an aggressive tumour near his brain stem after suffering a seizure in February 2018.
Surgery and radiotherapy left him with visual and mobility problems.
Just over a year later, Kev began suffering from back pain and dizziness.
An MRI scan at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton, on the same day he was to have an appointment to discuss chemotherapy, showed that the tumour had recurred in three places.
Kev started to deteriorate very quickly and died just 15 months after diagnosis on May 24, 2019, just nine days after being admitted to hospital.
Ges, who manages a property company as well as Farlea Childcare alongside wife Annie, said:"We kept up a good pace along the 164km Cotswold Way, also walking the extra distances to and from our bed and breakfast accommodation each day which brought the total distance to just over 180km.
"However, the wind and rain on Tuesday and particularly on Wednesday gave us a bit more of a challenge.
"Losing Kev was heart-breaking. We were very close and had a shared love of music. We used to go to gigs together, along with Annie and his wife Annette.
"It’s terrible to think that one in three people knows someone affected by a brain tumour, yet research to find a cure is so poorly funded."
Since losing Kev, his family has set up a Fundraising Group under the umbrella of Brain Tumour Research called In Kev’s Memory which has raised more than £13,000 to date.
People can donate to Ges, Jim and Dav’s Cotswold Way challenge via justgiving.com/fundraising/annie-o-mahony
