BIKE RIDE . . . Colin Dorrance
Lockerbie’s Colin Dorrance, 46, is raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity, following nephew Sam Dorrance’s tumour diagnosis last year.
Little Sam had just started school and the news devastated his loving parents Graeme and Tanya, a Gretna native.
Police Sergeant Colin said: “You hear almost every day of someone who has cancer, and I’m as guilty as anyone for allowing such accounts to sort of gloss over you, without considering the details of what this actually means.”
Last August Sam started primary school in Stonehaven but his first week was marred by a persistent sore neck and sickness.
After a scan a tumour – about the size of a plum – was detected at the back of Sam’s skull.
He was rushed to The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh that day and it was removed. However, doctors found the cancer was very aggressive.
Colin said: “Sam has remained in hospital since then, receiving the very best treatment available.
“In October, he suffered a rare complication which caused his brain to swell and he came perilously close to losing his fight for life.
“He was saved using pioneering treatment and has since begun critical radio and chemotherapy, but those treatments have proved brutal on the body of a five year old boy.”
BRAVE . . . Sam Dorrance
Sam’s parents have kept a near constant vigil by his bed in the ward and intensive care for months, relying on accommodation provided by the CLIC Sargent charity in order to stay with Sam in Edinburgh.
There have only been a few days here and there when Sam has been well enough to get home and his older brother, Ethan, is being looked after by his grandparents.
At Christmas time, Ethan wanted to raise £20 for CLIC by holding a Christmas Jumper day at his school. The event caught on and he ended up raising over £10,000, a total Colin would be happy to mimic.
Colin said: “Sam’s managed a couple of days at school in Stonehaven, but this week he is again subject to chemotherapy, as he has since February.
“This wipes his immune system and leaves him vulnerable to infection.
“It means days or weeks isolated from others and confined to a hospital room. He hates that.
“The side effects are disturbing and upsetting for Sam.
“The wider family are devastated but support where they can. It’s a very long haul with no guarantees ahead.”
Since his diagnosis, mum Tanya has learned much about the funding and research going in to combating brain tumours.
She wrote to Stuart Donaldson, MP for Stonehaven, who spoke in Westminster about Sam’s case and the need to raise vital funding levels to allow for better treatment techniques to be developed.
The Dumfriesshire Dorrances have also written to MP David Mundell, who has pledged his support.
Colin said: “Having watched what has happened to my family over the past few months, I wanted to do something to help this worthy cause.
“Sam has no choices at the moment about his health and fitness, but I do.
“I decided it was time to get out, get a bit fitter and raise awareness and hopefully some money for the Brain Tumour Charity.”
On Saturday June 25 Colin will cycle from the border at Gretna and ride 200 miles to Stonehaven to Sam’s Primary School.
Colin is looking for other cyclists, of any ability, to join him on his journey for big or small distances.
So far nine people from around the country have pledged their riding support and dozens of family, friends and colleagues have offered to join too.
Colin said: “All we ask is that participants try to raise some sponsorship for their efforts, either through the very easy ‘Just Giving’ page dedicated to the bike run, or through old fashioned sponsor forms.”
He added: “My colleagues in Police Scotland have been outstanding in their support in loads of different ways.
“We aim to ride to the Forth Road Bridge on day one and may even be able to pay a brief visit to Sam in Edinburgh on the way.
“The Scottish Police College has kindly agreed to accommodate us overnight and we will resume from North Queensferry through Fife, Dundee and the east coast to Stonehaven throughout day two.
“The staff and dozens of residents from the Stonehaven area want to welcome us in to the town, which we hope to arrive at around tea time on the Sunday afternoon.
“I have ridden distances before, but never a challenge like this. I am no Olympian that’s for sure.
“All I hope is that the weather is as kind as people have been in helping us to date and that we raise some awareness and vital funds to make the future for others who face this awful condition more bearable.”
To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Cycle-for-Sam?utm_id=57&fb_action_ids=882115831934921&fb_action_types=jgdonation%3aupdate
Read more about Sam and his family’s fundraising by clicking on the link below.
