My son is taking on a 12-hour darts marathon in South Shields to thank Macmillan nurses
A South Shields teenager is set to take on a 12-hour darts challenge.
Grant Swindell, from South Shields, will be taking on the gruelling darts challenge on Friday, December 12, as a way of saying thank you to nurses at Macmillan Cancer Support.
The 17-year-old’s dad, Ian Swindell, was diagnosed with incurable multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer) in July and the pair have been receiving support from Macmillan ever since.
Ian has explained to the Shields Gazette how he felt when he found out about the diagnosis and revealed where the idea for the darts marathon came from.
He said: “It was six months from when I first went to the hospital to getting told that I had cancer, doctors initially told me that it was just acid reflux.
“Then when I got the diagnosis, Macmillan nurses were absolutely brilliant in supporting both myself and Grant through what was pretty rough times.
“Without their support, I think we would have been in a right mess so this is just our way of showing them that we are grateful for their help.
“Grant does play darts on a Monday night for the Derby RH and a big thanks needs to be said to Gary Thorius, the owner, for letting us use the board for 12 hours.
“He knows it will be a hard slog but he loves his darts so he is really looking forward to the day.
“We’re hoping to raise around £500 and so far, we’ve managed to raise nearly £200 - we don’t want to be greedy and raise thousands but every little helps.”
Ian’s friend, Rhys Culley, who is a barber will also be at the event on the day offering haircuts for £5 per person - with all proceeds also going to the cancer charity.
The darts marathon will take place at The Derby, on Price Edward Road, in South Shields, on Friday, December 12.
Members of the public are welcome to come along to support Grant or get involved and give him a game.