Wandsworth brothers raise funds for Brain Tumour Research in London Marathon
Two Wandsworth brothers smashed their £10,000 target, raising funds for Brain Tumour Research, which they have supported since their mother’s diagnosis in May 2019.
Oscar Kirby-Hogarty, 29, of Earlsfield and his brother Tobi, 27, of Battersea, completed the course despite confessing they are ‘not gifted sports people’.
They signed up to the London marathon as a positive way of dealing with the loss of their ‘adored’ mother, Lesley Kirby-Klappholz, at the age of 63.
Oscar said: “The idea of running a marathon is something that always appealed to me but in all honesty, I never really liked running, but when mum was diagnosed as terminal I thought we needed something positive to focus on because people often go one of two ways in that situation, so I said let’s get signed up.
“She was pragmatic and her pragmatism lives on in me and my brother. It’s very easy to take a negative and build a negative cycle but it’s more difficult to build a positive one and I think we’ve done that as much as we can.”
After a career in education spanning almost four decades, Lesley had retired from her job as a headteacher shortly before being diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive and fast-growing form of brain cancer.
Oscar said: “She had this unwavering zest for life and it was really hard to see her like that.
“I would say turning her life support off was the most difficult decision but it was also the easiest because we were very close and we knew what she would have wanted.”
Of Sunday’s race and the large sums of money people have donated in support, he said: “It is 100 per cent a doff of our caps to our mum who would have dreamt of nothing worse than running a marathon but is a living testament that hard work trumps everything.
“Our mum was a caring, emphatic person who would have been exceptionally proud that she could make such a difference to the world, or a further one to when she lived.”
Oscar and Tobi have set a new goal of raising £15,000. To donate, visit www.justgiving.com/