Group hopes to raise money to fund best friend's cancer treatment
The group of friends from North Rigton have already raised over £50,000 for best friend James Hindmarsh
Last updated 27th Mar 2021
A group of friends from North Rigton are hoping to raise enough money to fund the potentially lifesaving cancer treatment for their best friend.
James Hindmarsh was diagnosed with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS), a rare form of born cancer, in April last year.
But after months of gruelling treatment they discovered the radiation and chemotherapy hadn't worked and his only option would be to receive private care.
It's unknown how expensive the treatment will be, so James' best friends are pulling together to raise as much money as possible so he can get the care he needs.
His best friend, Henry Bartle, said: "It was heart breaking when we found out. At 24 to find out you've got cancer, you haven't really lived your life and you're so young. You can't even imagine what he's going through.
"But he's got a great support system around him and there's always at least one person out of our group of friends who is always with him.
"The family have already incurred so many costs by sending samples away to these private clinics and they're now doing the work in the background to see if they can offer any treatment which will give him the best chance of survival.
"We don't know how much that's going to cost so we don't have a target. We just need to raise as much as possible for him."
James' other friend, Ollie Ward, said: "It came as a massive shock. Lots of people can get cancer nowadays but at 24 years old, for him and for ourselves, it was a massive shock and it wasn't anything we would've expected at our age.
"But James has been so tough. I know if I was in his position I wouldn't be doing anywhere near as well as he is right now.
"James was complaining of a bad back so he went to the doctors who said he had a slipped disc. A few weeks later he still had the pain so they did more tests and found something there. The message from me would be to not ignore any signs and don't put it off.
"If James would have put it off he might not be in the situation he's in now."
Henry, Ollie and Jeremy Butterfield will be running three marathons in three days taking place on May 28, 29 and 30.
Luca Peterson and Harry Halsall will be walking the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the Lake District Three Peaks over two consecutive days.
Joe Braham will be completing a ski tour, starting in Verbier town (1500m) and touring through the night to reach the summit of mont fort (3328m) for sunrise. The tour will be a 1828 vertical meter climb.
The group have already had donations from the likes of Piers Morgan and Gary Lineker.
You can donate to the fundraiser by clicking here.