Burgess Hill ambulance dispatcher set for marathon in memory of stepmother who had 14 brain tumours

Paul Weller, 37, said taking part in the TCS London Marathon on April 23 will be emotional because it will be almost a year after his stepmum’s passing.

Jenny Weller, a Burgess Hill based personal trainer, died in May last year after being diagnosed with 14 brain tumours within 18 months.

Paul, a former firefighter who now works for SECAmb, said: “I ran the London Marathon in 2021 wearing a 20kg breathing apparatus on my back. I said to Jen I’d never run it again because I hated it so much, but she overheard me say I’d be interested in seeing what time I’d get without it.”

Paul said he left the fire brigade after having an ankle replacement in 2012, which limits the sports he can do. But Jen kept encouraging him to do the marathon.

Paul said: “Jen being the person she was would have got me to do it at some point. There’s not one part of me that wants to do another one but I know it’s something she would have pushed for me to do.”

Jenny was 37 in September 2020 when she was diagnosed with a primary tumour in her lung and five secondary tumours in her brain after having a seizure at home. Tumours were also discovered in her neck and pelvis.

She had a craniotomy to remove the largest brain tumour, undertaking drug therapy to slow the growth of the others, followed by radiotherapy in 2021. But her condition deteriorated and she developed nine more brain tumours, dying in a hospice just five months later.

Paul said: “Running a marathon seems a small thing compared to everything she did in her last year. She didn’t give up so I know I can’t either.”

Following her terminal cancer diagnosis Jenny launched a series of fundraisers for Brain Tumour Research and ALK Positive UK, and raised more than £26,000 for Brain Tumour Research under the banner WellerFest. Paul is also raising funds for Brain Tumour Research. Carol Robertson, national events manager for Brain Tumour Research, called Jen ‘an exceptional woman’ for raising funds during her illness.

To support Paul’s fundraising, visit 2023tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/paul-weller.