Friends and family raise £15,000 for father with rare cancer

Elli Cooper, 33 and Mark Bellamy, 26, got 21 colleagues in groups together to raise money for Jack Harper, 37, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called angiosarcoma in November 2020.

Jack works as a quantity surveyor at Wellington Construction Ltd and lives in Lowestoft with his family which include his wife Fiona, 35, and two children, Arthur, 5 and Agnes, 2.

The walk for Jack took place from Lowestoft to Norwich. (Image: Elli Cooper)

The group started at 6am from Jack's workplace at Wellington Construction in Lowestoft and finished at Carrow Road at 6.30pm.

Jack is a fellow Norwich City supporter and for Elli Cooper the walk was gruelling but worthwhile.

Miss Cooper said: "The walk was challenging particularly during the middle part of the walk.

"During the first part we walked from Lowestoft to Beccles and it was all clear.

"But the section from Beccles to Kirby Cane and Seething the heavens opened and we all got soaked."

Friends and family have raised £15,000 for Jack. (Image: Elli Cooper)

Friends and family target for Jack was initially £5,000 but thanks to dedicated supporters they have now raised £15,000.

For friend Elli Cooper the money raised has made a real difference for Jack.

She said: "The amount raised has been absolutely amazing and we have smashed our target.

"We have raised so much more than expected and we also have a signed city shirt which we will raffle off to raise more money.

"It was such an emotional end to the walk with close family waiting at Carrow Road.

"There were lots of tears at the end of it all."

It was an emotional end to the walk. (Image: Elli Cooper)

Jack's friends and colleagues pulled out all the stops to support him on the big day.

Miss Cooper said: "We are a very close-knit team at Wellington, and everybody wanted to make the effort to raise money to help pay for his complementary treatment and support his family.

"All Jack's friends and family have everything crossed that this money raised will go towards more successful drug treatments that are not available on the NHS."

To donate to Jack's drug treatment you can do so here.