Empty Chairs – Tim Page

Some of you might recognise this gentleman – Tim Page was one of our biggest heroes last year. As well as starring in our promotional campaign, Tim set himself the task of running every Parkrun in Northern Ireland, to drive awareness of our work and raising a whopping £14,500 in the process.

Tim’s own story has inspired this year’s new campaign, which we’re launching next week. We wanted to share it with you first.

Tim Page is 53 and he has battled blood cancer an astounding four times, facing both Hodgkin’s and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, for the first time in 1984 and most recently in 2013.

Reflecting on the completion of his 22 Parkrun challenge, Tim was struck by the memory of a recent encounter with his first haematology nurse. She had said to him: “I clearly remember you back then Tim. Do you know that out of the 22 people in that ward that day in 1984, you’re the only one who is still alive?”

We think Tim is pretty special: he’s certainly defying all the odds. He thinks he’s just a regular guy, and he gets on with living his life to the full. Tim puts his survival down to the research and treatments being developed to help fight blood cancer – the work that can only happen with funding from charities like ours, going on right here and right now in Belfast.

Next week, we’ll launch our 2017 campaign, introduced and inspired by Tim, and his story. Stay tuned and share our journey.

#EmptyChairs