Moved dad pays tribute to teen team’s cancer run

WHEN Jonathan Stockton was diagnosed with leukaemia earlier this year, he was left facing months of agonising treatment and an uncertain future.

But there was at least one heartwarming surprise in store for the Bangor man, as in a touching display of love, devotion and support his teenage son’s entire rugby team turned out on the hottest day of the year to pound their way through a gruelling 10 kilometre run in his name.

The rugby fanatics, all 15 years old and on Bangor Grammar School’s fourth form medallion team, managed to raise over £1,000 for the haematology ward at Belfast’s City Hospital, where Mr Stockton is being treated.

The rugby squad ran from Bangor seafront to Crawfordsburn and back on Sunday, June 25 – the hottest day of the year so far. Speaking later that week, a visibly moved Mr Stockton revealed his pride in the boys’ feat.

“I was really touched by it, that 15 year olds would come up with this idea by themselves without any encouragement from parents was really something,” he said.

“I was diagnosed in mid-May, and I was then in City Hospital in June for the first batch of treatment. I’ll need four in total, so in fact I’ve had my bags packed waiting to go in for the second round of chemo.

“Within days of going in, the boys had come up with this idea of doing a fundraising event for the ward I was on. It was the chap who was the captain of the team, James Leary, who came up with it but all of the team including my son Matthew were right behind it.

“It was very much the boys, they had the idea and they made it happen. I was very proud of all of them and that they wanted to do so much good, it just goes to show that kids of that age aren’t just out causing trouble. Some of them are doing a lot of good for people in need.”