A WOMAN is running the London Marathon to raise money for charity in memory of her father-in-law.
Robert Degville, from Burntwood, regularly ran alongside his daughter-in-law Victoria Southall.
When the security guard began to feel a lump in his groin in May 2022 he initially thought it was a pulled muscle and was referred for a scan, but began to feel pain after going for runs during a family holiday in Greece the following month.
After returning home, Robert’s condition worsened, but he was sent home from a hospital accident and emergency department to wait for his scan, with further GP visits also bringing no answers.
In late July, he was admitted to hospital and was told he had an abscess.
But medics then opted to take a biopsy, with further suggestions that a urinary tract infection was causing his problems – only for him to be admitted to hospital again in August 2022.
Victoria said:
“It turned out that Robert’s results were sitting in the system unread and unacknowledged. A consultant was left with the devastating task of interpreting and explaining them on the spot to us.
“From there, everything escalated.”
Robert was transferred urgently to a hospital in Derby, but never came home.
Early in September 2022, he was put on palliative care and died aged 64 a few weeks later.
It was only after his death that his biopsy results showed that he had liposarcoma.
Victoria said:
“When we found out it was cancer, we were gobsmacked. The family found it hard to process what had happened, the speed and suddenness of it all.
“Robert had been strong, active and always moving – the man who never stopped running.
“There were so many chances to investigate what was wrong that weren’t taken.”
Victoria is now running the London Marathon on 26th April in aid of Sarcoma UK, which helped provide information on Robert’s condition.
She said:
“I am running to honour Robert – and to help raise awareness so that no other family has to go through the same experience.
“This will be my hardest run to date but every mile is for Rob. We love and miss him forever.”
Emily Williams, research manager at Sarcoma UK, said:
“Liposarcoma is one of the most common forms of sarcoma, yet it remains incredibly difficult to treat – and, as Robert’s story shows, far too easy to miss.
“That’s why the research we’re funding matters so much. Sarcoma is a cancer that is hard to spot, hard to treat and – for too many families – devastating in its speed.”
To donate to Victoria’s fundraising run, visit www.justgiving.com/page/victoriasouthall.
