This Monday 17th February is the first Synovial Sarcoma Day shining a light on a rare cancer that affects 79 people in England each year. Early symptoms can be mistaken for other conditions - like sports injuries or cysts - which can delay crucial treatment.
Whilst 79 people doesn’t seem a lot especially when compared to the ‘major’ cancers each of those 79 is someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, a parent or perhaps a friend. This was the case with Gareth who was first diagnosed just over ten years ago in December 2014.
Synovial Sarcoma is very much a young person’s cancer which is why it isn’t always spotted. Unfortunately, Gareth was an active sportsman and initially thought his injury was a broken foot having spent weeks walking around Petra and Jordan in ill-fitting footwear borrowed from a friend. I do remember picking him up from King’s College in London to move him out of his flat to find him in a cast, his dad having to carry all his belongings down two flights of stairs and into the car and even buy breakfast!
Synovial sarcoma is thought to be caused when certain chromosomes (the parts within cells that contain DNA) are broken apart and put back together in the wrong way. Researchers are still trying to find out why this happens and whether this causes synovial sarcoma. However, synovial sarcoma remains significantly underfunded meaning that limited progress has been made in understanding this cancer and its effective treatment.
Gareth set up his blog following his terminal diagnosis to raise money for research into Synovial Sarcoma via Cancer Research UK raising just over £100,000 in a year and earning him Cancer Research’s Fundraiser of the Year Award, which in typical fashion his response was entirely altruistic! When he told me he wanted to raise £100,000 before he “croaked it” (his words not mine) I have to say I was sceptical and told him so, but he did always like to prove me wrong.
Gareth was enthusiastic about life, loved his family and his friends and Florence, his Labrador. Gareth's passion was travelling the world and always loved watching and playing sport from a young age. He was ambitious, motivated and positive, perfect character traits which stood him in good stead when he began his Officer Training at Sandhurst. After his diagnosis, he aimed at an Ambassadorship in the Foreign Commonwealth Office, a role he was always working towards ever since his post-graduate degree at King's College London.
Gareth was 27 years young when he died after having a below the knee amputation, lots of X-rays and Chemotherapy on the Teenage Cancer Trust Ward at St James' Hospital, Leeds. Despite years of treatment, the Synovial Sarcoma cancer metastasised and ultimately took his life as there is no cure or effective treatment.
This is who Synovial Sarcoma Cancer has taken away from his mum, dad, brother and wonderful friends - we all adored him and miss him every day and life will never be the same again. However he insisted we got on with our lives and also continued his legacy – perhaps not in his gung-ho, bull-in-a-china shop like way (what, Gareth I hear you say!) but it does continue to help raise much needed funds through your donations and events such as the annual Cookridge Community 10K and Fun Run which this year takes place on Sunday 18 May 2025-
(please visit Cookridge Community Run)
So as it’s the first Synovial Sarcoma Day why not visit his Just Giving page Chemotionally Unstable and help us to continue his legacy by making a donation. Or in Gareth's words- hand over your money please.
The pot currently stands at over £180,000 with Gift Aid and this year we want to double Gareth’s money and hit the £200,000 mark – I am sure he’d be proud but I know he would also say: “why not £300,000".
A sincere thank you for reading this post and support us,
Family of Gareth Dunn
For more information please visit Sarcoma UK
Comments