Geraint’s epic cycle tour
TRIBUTE TO BROTHER WHO DIED DUE TO BRAIN TUMOUR
A TEACHER is in training for an epic cycling challenge to raise money for Brain Tumour Research and pay tribute to the brother he lost to the deadly disease.
Geraint Davies, from Fleckney, has turned to a fitness fundraiser to try to deal with his grief.
Later this month, the 36-year-old head of PE and Sport at Leicester Grammar School will take on a gruelling 450-mile bikepacking journey over five days.
It’s after his older brother Mark died aged 44, after a 13-year battle with a brain tumour.
Geraint, who lives with his wife and their three children, said: “Mark was 30 when, in October 2005, he suffered a knock to the head during a rugby match and had a seizure on the pitch. He was rushed to hospital and a scan revealed a brain tumour. It was a complete shock.
“Up until that day, he hadn’t had any of the symptoms you would associate with a brain tumour.”
Mark’s tumour was identified as a grade 2 glioma. He was treated with a course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and was left severely epileptic, a condition which took many years to get under control.
Geraint said: “He couldn’t drive for 18 months and lived at home with our parents, Sheila and Dennis. In spite of the challenges, Mark was determined to get back to his job as a welder fabricator at a steel works in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, near to where I grew up and where my family still live.”
Mark continued to be monitored with regular MRI scans. All the scans came back with positive results and he was managing well until one day in March 2013, when he came home from work complaining of blurred vision.
Admitted to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for a biopsy, Mark lost his eyesight and suffered from serious psychosis. Worse still, the results confirmed the tumour was incurable and unlikely to respond to further chemotherapy.
“Mark went through another six rounds of chemo anyway, in the hope it would prevent further progression of the tumour,” said Geraint. “He managed for a couple of years but then, in October 2015, he slipped coming down the stairs and broke his leg. He spent seven months in hospital before going to a care home in May 2016.”
Mark’s family visited every day but by April 2019, after a long and slow decline, Geraint realised his beloved brother didn’t have long left. He said: “In the end, I held his hand and told him not to be scared and he was going to a better place, where he could see again, where he could walk, swim and listen to his favourite band – Iron Maiden – all day long.”
Mark died on April 23, 2019, surrounded by family. Geraint said: “During the Covid-19 lockdown, I struggled with my grief more and more. I was out for a run, thinking about Mark, when I decided I needed something positive to focus on. I wanted to do something to remember him and to support other families to try and prevent them from going through what my family has gone through.”
Geraint is taking on a huge physical challenge, with the aim of raising at least £5,000 for two causes close to his heart: My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and Brain Tumour Research.
He said: “On May 28, I’ll be setting off from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk on a 450-mile bikepacking journey, that will take me from coast to coast, arriving in Aberystwyth and Mumbles Pier in Swansea. I’ll visit rugby clubs along the route, delivering training sessions for minis, juniors, colts and seniors. My brother was a massive Neath, Ospreys, and Wales supporter. I wanted to do something fitting to remember him by.”
To donate to via Geraint’s fundraising page, visit: