Castleton man raises over £5,000 for Macmillan after wife is diagnosed with cancer

Date published: 13 September 2022

A dedicated husband from Castleton has raised over £5,000 for Macmillan after his wife was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Engineer Andrew Ross, 42, and 11 others tackled the Welsh 3000s on Saturday (10 September), a challenge which saw only half of them complete it in 19.5 hours.

The Welsh 3000s is a mammoth feat which consists of climbing 15 mountains over 3,000-feet in height, and sees challengers walk 34-miles – in just one day. 

Andrew said he’d heard of the challenge before, but decided to tackle it in aid of Macmillan as “an amazing nurse” had supported both himself and wife Angela, 41, when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer a few months ago.

Angela has just completed seven weeks of treatment at the Christie, and will undergo further scans in six weeks to see if the treatment has worked.

Andrew, who has a seven-year-old-son with Angela, said: “I came up with the challenge the moment we found out Angela had cervical cancer.

“I couldn’t contain my distress and my emotions got of the better of me. The Macmillan nurse was there and she spent time making sure I was okay; it wasn’t me who had cancer, but she was looking out for me. She was truly wonderful to both of us; I walked out of that hospital that day and knew I had to do something to give back.”

“I wanted to do something to show Angela if she’s having a rough ride, then I’m with her every step of the way, so I will have it tough too,” he explained.

Andrew put the challenge to his friends, and was joined by John Finnerty, Ryan Law, Ryan Mathers, Alistair Godwin, Leroy Robinson, Aaron Hogan, Duncan Renshaw, Stephen Naylor, Liam Jones, Paul White and Lee Ashworth.

The father of one added: “Only six of us managed to complete it; myself, Ryan Mather, Alistair Godwin, Leroy Robinson, Lee Ashworth and Liam Jones. It took us 19 and a half hours from the start point to the finish, and around 12,500 feet in height. But we walked a total of 26 hours to get to the start point and back from the finish point.

“It’s safe to say this is the hardest, most insane thing my brain has ever come up with! We had a back up team on the day of James Keeling and Simon Regan who provided essentials and were there for us, which in itself was superb.

“I’m immensely proud of all who took part in it as it was a really tough day for us all. Angela has smashed her way through her treatment; she’s been the inspiration for me throughout all of this challenge as it’s all being done for her.”

Donations can still be made via JustGiving.