Running the Glasgow Half Marathon in memory of my big brother
Tuesday 4 October 2022
Naomi's running the Glasgow Half Marathon in honour her big brother Philip.
Philip, or Phil, as many knew him, was my amazing brother but also a great friend who made you feel loved, valued, encouraged, challenged and would be wherever you needed him to be. Philip was loved by many as he was invested in so many people’s lives. He was mischievous, funny, always up for a laugh, and commonly known as ‘Silly Philip’. Philip loved God, committed his life to his faith, was so passionate about his work as a Youth Leader and demonstrated the life of Christ through his life.
Philip was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in his late teens and suffered for 10 years, which impacted hugely on his quality of life. He was unable to work, experienced severe weight loss and numerous hospital admissions. Frequent and urgent use of the toilet impacted on when Philip could leave the house, as he was planning toilet stops, constantly thinking would he have access to a toilet, carrying a change of clothes and a boot full of toilet roll. This was not the life a young adult should live. In 2013 when Philip was 27, he had a subtotal colectomy formation of ileostomy. This surgery improved his quality of life hugely. He gained weight and finally looked healthy. He finished university, found the love of his life, got married in 2017 and became a dad in 2019. He was living his life to the full and every day was an adventure and not to be wasted.
On 15 December 2021, Philip was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which had spread to his liver and tumours on his spine. Two weeks later on 30 December, he tragically passed away at the age of 36. The diagnosis of cancer was a huge shock and didn’t make sense as he was fit and healthy. There had been some symptoms in the run up to the diagnosis, but nothing alarming. He complained of back pain over a few months that gradually got worse and in November attended physiotherapy. But we all assume back pain is normal, right? After suspected food poisoning, he had bad heartburn and reflux, he developed a cough which got worse and then his chest and back pain got more intense in the last few weeks. At an initial visit to the GP at the beginning of December, Philip was advised it could be a bacterial infection. A couple of weeks later, he returned to the doctor as symptoms were more severe and the next day, he was diagnosed with the words no one wants to hear - cancer. When Philip was diagnosed, he was seen by consultants within days and a plan for treatment (managing the condition) had started, but tragically the cancer had progressed so fast there was no time for treatment.
Our lives will be forever changed with Philip gone. Our family is incomplete and his family unit he started with his wife is tragically broken. Philip was only 36. Married to his beautiful wife for four and a half years, he has an amazing son who he only got two years with and never got to meet his beautiful daughter, who was born three months after he passed away. There are no words and no sense to what has happened. But we have the certainty that Philip is free from all pain and suffering, and is in Heaven. He was at peace in his final hours knowing that this was where he was going.
Philip’s Plodders is a group of family members who are running the Glasgow Half Marathon in his memory. The team is made up of cousins and siblings who were also his closest friends. The team includes Rodger Boyd, Craig Houston, Darren Black, Lois Black, Adrienne Murphy, Jason Murphy, Allan Mcwilliams and myself. Most of the team would never have imagined training for a half marathon and are pushing themselves to their limits. A few of us have ran before, but not this distance or it has been many years since we last ran. Time has probably been the hardest part of our training. Many of us are parents with work and family commitments and as the longer mile runs start more time is needed.
I enjoy running and was a regular runner before getting pregnant in 2021. I gave birth to my son at the end of last year, just days before Philip passed away. Training for this race has made me get my running shoes back on. There are some in the team who are very much out of their comfort zone and only doing this in Philip’s memory could motivate them to get training.
We started with the hope of raising £1,000. However, amazingly we’ve nearly doubled that, and we’re delighted. Our hope is to raise funds and raise awareness of bowel cancer, to prevent pain for other families.
