A DAD of two who was diagnosed with incurable and inoperable EGFR+ lung cancer has taken on the North Wales stretch of the Wales Coast Path in a bid to raise £1million.
Craig Maxwell, the WRU’s former head of marketing, has reached the halfway point of his Wales Coast Path challenge, with £700,000 already raised.
He is hoping to raise £1m for the Maxwell Family Fund, a fund as part of Velindre Cancer Centre, to enhance, improve and develop the cancer pathway in Wales.
His journey so far has seen him cover more than 350 miles from the North Wales coast, around Anglesey, the Llyn Peninsula and down the Ceredigion coast.
He has been joined by a number of Welsh celebrities including TV presenter Gethin Jones and former Welsh rugby players Josh Navidi and Ryan Jones.
The challenge will see walkers cover 780 miles of the coast path to represent the 78 days it took Craig to receive his diagnosis from the point of finding his tumour.
The rest of the 870-mile coast path will be cycled.
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It is being done in 26 days to mirror the QuicDNA project, a genomics research project to reduce diagnosis time for lung cancer patients to a maximum of 26 days.
A rugby match ball will be relayed the entire distance of the challenge, symbolising Wales’ collective fight against cancer.
It will culminate at the national stadium of Wales, the Principality Stadium, on March 10 for the Wales v France Six Nations match, where Craig, accompanied by his children, Isla and Zach, will carry the match ball onto the pitch.
Craig said: “It has been amazing so far. The different people joining each day has really lifted me.
“The rain on some days has been hard and I’ve got some pretty epic blisters, but apart from that, I’m feeling good.
“I’ve been overwhelmed that over 550 walkers have signed up to join me and that we’ve already raised over £700,000. It takes my breath away.
“I have been lucky to meet people along the way who are going through similar experiences to myself, or their families are going through similar experiences, and I’ve found that emotional, yet inspiring to hear their stories.
“It really has spurred me on to keep pushing so that we can create a better future for others going forward. Thanks again to everyone for their support.”
The people of Wales are being encouraged to support Craig’s efforts either by joining a leg of the challenge, or by taking on their own fundraising challenge between February 14 and March 10.
This can be anything from a one-day walking challenge, to walking a mile a day.
Craig was just 40 when he was diagnosed with incurable and inoperable EGFR lung and bone cancer.
In the last year, he has run the London Marathon, taken part in CARTEN, cycled 320 miles from Cardiff to Paris, cycled over 420 miles from Paris to Bordeaux and taken on the Welsh 3000s – climbing more than 10 mountains, all in excess of 3,000ft in 24 hours.
His efforts to date have seen him raise £430,000 to support the QuicDNA project, which aims to shorten the time it takes to diagnose lung cancer in patients in Wales.
With a further £500,000 donated by The Moondance Foundation, set up by Henry and Diane Engelhardt, Craig has now launched his own charity fund.
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