Devoted dad’s fundraiser in memory of Oliver, a little boy who ‘gave everything’

Oliver Hurd was diagnosed with the aggressive cancer when he was four years old, at the time, a normal, healthy, happy little boy.

His dad Rob, who owns a kitchen company in the town said: “He complained of a painful tummy so my wife Lisa and I  took him to the hospital in Wakefield where he had a scan which revealed there was something there.

“We went straight to the Leeds Cancer Centre and didn’t leave for months.”

Oliver had nine rounds of intensive chemotherapy, 26 sessions of radiotherapy and surgery which seemed successful.

This was followed by 12 months of maintenance chemotherapy at home which finished  in March 2021.

But within two weeks of the chemotherapy finishing, Oliver’s cancer came back.

Rob said: “We then started palliative care in April and he managed a few good months despite the chemotherapy side effects.

Sadly the disease started to spread again in July and we had no other options.

“Oliver was given a few weeks to live but he wasn’t done yet. “He managed 10 more weeks being at home surrounded by his family and the things he loved. He was finally at peace on September 17.”

Since then Rob has thrown his energies into raising money for the Candlelighters charity and for Oliver’s Arc - an offshoot of the children’s cancer charity Alice’s Arc, dedicated to funding research into finding a cure and less harsh treatments for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Rob has climbed the Three Peaks and run the Leeds 10k already this year, raising thousands of pounds for both charities.

His latest challenge is a 136-mile coast-to-coast bike ride from Morecambe to Filey on August Bank Holiday.
He said: “The route usually ends in Whitby but it made more sense to go to Filey as we bought a caravan there for Oliver - his favourite place.

He said: “I first started cycling as Oliver got poorly and it became something to take my mind off what was going on.

”Although I cycle  regularly I have  not tackled anything like this distance before.

“The hill climbs are going to be the worst part. I’m going to do it all one day but I don’t know how long it will take me.”

Oliver’s Arc Just Giving page for this year’s challenges stands at more than £2,000 and Rob is hoping to raise a few thousand more.

He said: “Oliver was always smiling even though the side effects of his ‘medicine’ were terrible.
“He gave everything he had but the treatments just aren’t good enough for our children.”

In April Caroline Dineage MP, minister of state for digital and culture held a debate in parliament calling on the government for a childhood cancer mission to look at the way we detect, treat and care for children with cancer.

During the debate, Ms Dineage said: “Childhood cancer is the biggest killer of children under the age of 14.

“In this age group, there are around 1,800 new cancer cases every year. One in 320 people will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday, and 12 children and young people are diagnosed every single day in the UK.

Maria Caulfield, minister of state for health read out Oliver’s name along with those of other children who had died of cancer.

A spokesperson for Alice’s Arc said: “This debate was such a fantastic step in the right direction but now we need the government to commit to #thechildhoodcancermission that Caroline Dinenage so eloquently spoke about.”

To contribute to Rob’s fund-aiser go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rob-hurd