Ivan McMinn Cancer Focus NI Marathon Man
03 December 2021
Ivan McMinn certainly is a Marathon Man in its truest sense. The now Chairman of Cancer Focus NI received a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2011. Nine months after having his chemotherapy treatment, he completed the London Marathon, and then again in 2014.
Through his marathon efforts and other endeavours, Ivan has raised over £500,000 for various charities, including our charity partner Cancer Focus Northern Ireland. He was recently awarded a richly deserved MBE for his service to charity and the community in Northern Ireland.
Ivan said: “I have been fundraising for cancer charities since the age of eight. I lost my Dad to cancer when I was seven years old, my brother had his own battle with cancer and then I received my diagnosis in 2011. So yes, cancer has affected my life multiple times. But in a strange kind of way having cancer has been a privilege – it’s helped me to connect with people and get into their lives in a way that I didn’t think possible. It’s been an incredible journey and has motivated me to do as much as I can to help others in a similar situation.”
By choosing to run for Cancer Focus NI, you will be supporting vital local cancer at Queen’s University Belfast. This project will help to determine how immunotherapy can more successfully treat pancreatic and oesophageal cancers, cancers which at present are hard to treat and have very low survival rates. To find out more visit: https://cancerfocusni.org/newresearch
Let’s run #StrongerTogether
