Amersham resident donates trainers to installation in dad's memory

Pancreatic Cancer UK unveiled Shoes of Hope along the River Thames, highlighting the devastating impact of pancreatic cancer ahead of the London Marathon.

Amersham resident, Rebecca Cox, donated a pair of trainers to the installation in memory of her dad, Steven. She is running this year's London Marathon to help the charity raise funds to develop the 'ultimate test' to speed up detection of the deadliest common cancer.

The poignant installation at Potters Fields Park featured 797 running shoes, including the pair Rebecca donated, dedicated to her dad, which read "Dad, my motivation on marathon day and my inspiration always. All my love forever." Her pair rested alongside trainers donated by celebrities, survivors, other bereaved families, and supporters. Each pair represented the number of lives lost to the disease every month in the UK.

Pancreatic Cancer UK is the Charity of the Year for the TCS London Marathon, and the Shoes of Hope installation was unveiled by Tony Audenshaw (Emmerdale), who is also taking on the marathon in memory of his wife, Ruth, who died from the disease in 2017.

Rebecca will join Tony and over 700 runners on Sunday 27^th of April 2025 to take on the ultimate test of endurance to help deliver the ultimate test – the first ever early detection test for pancreatic cancer.

Rebecca and her dad Steven

Steven had always been a family man and Rebecca was very close with her dad. After Rebecca had Steven's first grandchild, nothing was ever too much, and he would bend over backwards to help out. In September 2022, Steven began to feel unwell on a holiday. When he returned to the UK, he went to a walk-in clinic and was told it was likely gallstones, and he was sent home. A week later, he could barely eat or leave his bed due to the pain. His GP ordered further investigations, putting him on the two-week pathway but the pain soon became unbearable, and he began to experience jaundice. Rebecca's mum took Steven to hospital where a CT scan was performed, revealing he had pancreatic cancer. 

Rebecca, 32 said: "I don't think I fully appreciated the severity of the diagnosis; I heard cancer, not pancreatic cancer. You hear about people surviving cancer all the time, my dad could be one of those people. What I didn't know was that more than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis. My dad said it was the one cancer he didn't want."

A biopsy confirmed Steven had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, meaning he was unable to have any treatment. He was transferred to a different hospital where they tried to fit a stent to relieve the jaundice, but the three attempts failed. Tragically, Steven never left the hospital and died just one month and a day after his diagnosis was confirmed, aged 61.

Rebecca said: "Dad went from being a healthy and active 61-year-old, who didn't smoke or drink, to being unable to get out of bed within a month and being dead within three. And as if losing my dad so quickly wasn't devastating enough, to add to the heartache, I found out I was pregnant with his second grandchild just weeks later.

"It makes me angry that a disease so deadly, with such poor survival, still gets so little funding. That people are basically written off after a diagnosis. It breaks my heart knowing other people are going through, or will go through, what we did. I want to do everything I can to change the story for people diagnosed. I'm no runner, but I am here, and I get to run. I can do it. There are so many people affected by pancreatic cancer who can't. I am doing it for them."

To support Rebecca, visit: https://2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/rebecca-cox (external site)