Team Bushell Fundraising Appeal

Please see below, a very moving piece from Paul Bushell, long time supporter and sponsor of the club.

Dear CRFC community,

My name is Paul Bushell. I have been coming to CRFC for 16 years, initially as a M&Y coach for my son Toby’s year group and thereafter to watch senior rugby. Until recently I sat on the main club committee, the finance committee and I continue to chair the advisory board.

Two months ago, I went to the doctor complaining of some stomach pains. I was expecting the diagnosis of a stomach ulcer or similar. Instead I received the shock diagnosis of a pancreatic tumour that had spread to other organs in my body. There is no cure for this cancer, it is known as the silent killer, as in over 80% of people it is at stage 4 before it is diagnosed. At the age of 52 this has been a game changer in every sense of the word – I would struggle to ever articulate how much life has been turned upside down.

I am receiving the most brutal chemotherapy regimes every two weeks, so far I have been lucky to be relatively unaffected by the side effects. This will hopefully give me some good quality life extension. I’ve also had some great advice from many people – in particular I’d like to mention Alison Williams who has been an absolute star in teaching me about positivity and the right attitude, even when the odds are stacked against you.

Over the last few weeks I have learnt a huge amount more about this terrible illness. It receives one of the lowest research and development budgets, due to the lack of cure. It is the 10th most common cancer in the UK.

The reason for my writing is to highlight your attention to this, and to ask for your generosity in sponsoring my family to raise funds for research into this worthwhile cause.

Shortly after diagnosis we decided we wanted to raise money for more research into this disease. As a result, we have decided to all undertake a sponsored walk (and a ½ marathon) in different places. Therefore on the 17th July, Justine, Toby and I will be walking 10km near to home in Kent. My daughter Lara will be doing the same in Scotland and my eldest daughter Alice will do this in Mexico. Furthermore Justine and Toby are undertaking the Canterbury ½ marathon on the 30th August as part of this cause.

I appreciate fully that the club regularly looks for sponsorship and help for both itself and also for other genuinely great charities. I truly hope that you can sponsor my family for this cause, and assist in funding research into early diagnosis of this cruel cancer.

The link for sponsorship is below. Some of you may wish to make an anonymous online donation, but we do like to see who has given money so we can thank them when we next see each other.

https://www.thebigstepforward.org.uk/fundraisers/TeamBushell
Target of £20,000

Thank you so much for your kind support. I continue to fight the fight and fully intend to be around to watch CRFC go from strength to strength in the next season! I hope to see you there.

With my best wishes

The Bushells
(Paul, Justine, Alice, Lara and Toby)