Worthing runners take on Brighton Marathon for Brain Tumour Research in memory of school friend who died at the age of 26

​Kitchen assistant Dan Franklin was 'a brilliant friend' and Jordan Hilton and Aaron Duffy want to honour him by running the Brighton Marathon on Sunday, April 2, in aid of the charity Brain Tumour Research.

The pals, both aged 27, say Dan hated running and admit he would probably hate them doing this in his name, as he was so shy, but they feel it is important to raise awareness.

Aaron, a trainee accountant, said: "It was the timescale of Dan’s illness that really struck us. He went from being there to chat to every day, a mate with nothing wrong with him, to having all these weird symptoms all of a sudden. He died during Covid-19, when we couldn’t be with him much, which was one of the hardest things."

Dan was diagnosed with an inoperable glioblastoma (GBM) in October 2020 after suffering with balance problems and sickness. He had chemotherapy and two rounds of radiotherapy but his health began to deteriorate from August 2021. He died at home three months later, at the age of 26.

Aaron said: “Dan was an absolutely brilliant friend, he had a great sense of humour and the ability to make us all laugh with his unique storytelling style. I, and many of his friends, miss him massively. We talk about Dan and our shared experiences with him daily and laugh about the good times."

Aaron ran the Brighton Marathon two years ago and is aiming to get a personal best this time. He will also be running the Manchester Marathon in two weeks' time for Brain Tumour Research.

He said: “My brother told me ‘It’s not really a challenge if you’ve already done it’, so I said I’d do both. I got three hours 42 minutes at Brighton last time so I’m hoping to get something close to three hours 15 minutes this time – that should keep things interesting!”

Jordan, a fibre broadband engineer for Openreach, ran the Worthing 10K last year and said he will be 'over the moon' to finish in anything under four hours.

He explained: “Aaron and I were in the pub on Christmas Eve and I knew he was running the Manchester Marathon but it was there he told me he was running the Brighton Marathon as well. As soon as he told me he was doing it for Dan, I was in. We won’t be running together as Aaron’s much faster than me.

"Dan absolutely despised running so he’d definitely be having a laugh at us for doing this. On the other hand, he was so shy and reserved that he’d probably say he didn’t want us to do it for him. He hated being centre stage but we loved him to bits and want to do it.

"When I was first put on the same table as Dan at school, I looked at his Star Wars pencil case and thought I was never going to like him but we became best mates. We clicked over lots of things, BMXing, gaming and football – we played in the same team. We went everywhere together.

"I found it really impressive how his dad, Tony, started raising awareness and funds for Brain Tumour Research straight after Dan passed. Seeing him do that and the positive impact it’s had on his psyche made me think it’s wrong of us not to try and help in any way we can too.”

Jordan and Aaron are hoping to raise at least £2,740, which is equivalent to the cost of sponsoring a day of research at a Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence. To support their fundraising, visit www.justgiving.com/team/doitfordan

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Dan’s sad story is a stark reminder of the fact brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet, historically, just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. We’re determined to change this and are so grateful to Jordan and Aaron for taking on this huge challenge for us. Together we will find a cure.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.