Saffron Walden family's epic walk for dad with brain tumour

Father-of-two Stephen Overton was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) in March, after his face suddenly drooped.

The 44-year-old had also been experiencing problems with his memory and speech.

Kim and Stephen Overton (Image: Courtesy of Kim Overton)

Stephen underwent a debulking surgery and six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. He is now part of the way through a six-month course of chemo, and has had to leave his job as a coach driver.

His wife Kim, who gave up her job as duty manager of a hotel to care for him full-time.

She said: "Since Christmastime, Stephen had been having memory problems and sometimes it would take him a while to get his words out.

"Then, in March, I came home from work and thought he’d had a stroke. His face had drooped on one side, so I took him to A&E and it snowballed from there.

"It’s not something you expect and seemed to happen overnight. Now he has good days and bad days. We’ve had to rush him to hospital a few times with seizures."

To support Stephen, Kim took on the London Summer Walk on Saturday, August 26 alongside Stephen's daughter Holly and sister Kara Overton - as well as Kara's friend, Karly Leeder.

The walk took them on a 25km loop from the Woolwich Royal Artillery Barracks to Greenwich, to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.

Kim said: "I saw parts of London I’ve never seen before.

"We did have a couple of downpours, but they were actually quite welcome because it was rather muggy and so nice to cool off.

"I was a bit worried beforehand because, with everything going on with Stephen, I hadn’t been able to train much but we were determined and did it in just over six hours.

"It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but it was liberating.

READ MORE

• 'Beach on the Common' a hit with crowds in Saffron Walden
• Post Office supervisor who stole nearly £18,000 from workplace sentenced

"You meet a lot of people on the walk who are raising money for different charities and hearing their stories was heartbreaking but also humbling.

"Finding out how many people are affected by brain tumours and that just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to researching them left me astounded.

"We should be doing so much more."

Together the group has raised nearly £4,000 for the charity - more than enough to sponsor a day of research at one of the charity's four 'Centres of Excellence', with each day costing £2,740.

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: "With one in three of us knowing someone affected by a brain tumour, Stepehen’s story is, sadly, not unique.

"Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and young people under the age of 40 and yet research into the disease remains woefully underfunded.

"We’re determined to change this and are really grateful to Kim, Holly, Kara and Karly for taking on this fundraiser for us. Together we will find a cure."