Anthony's Story
Anthony Pilcher was diagnosed with
Osteosarcoma on 4th April 2001 at the age of 14. We had never heard of
Osteosarcoma and since Anthony’s diagnosis, have discovered that most people have
never heard of it until someone they know is diagnosed with this terrible bone
cancer. Anthony’s first thought,
once he had got over the shock of the diagnosis, was to raise money for
research, in the hope that he might be able to save other people going through
what he was going to have to endure. As soon as he started chemotherapy, he
asked people to sponsor him to have his head shaved. His friends at the Lewes
Old Grammar School wanted to do their bit to help and they arranged a rock
concert under the name of Fish Aid (Fish was Anthony’s nickname at school). In
December 2001 Anthony handed over a cheque for £3000 to Cancer Research, which
had been raised by the above, and other fund raising events. Anthony had lots of
other fund raising ideas and wanted to continue to raise money once his
treatment was completed. Unfortunately he was unable to do much more as the
cancer spread to his lungs and his body did not tolerate the treatment. He sadly
died on 8th October 2002 at the age of 15.
Anthony's Charity
The charity’s aims are to raise
awareness of this illness, offer support to patients and their families, and, of
course, to carry out Anthony’s wish of raising money for research in the hope
that eventually other children/adolescents will not have to suffer in this
terrible way. The charity has linked up with the
Bone Cancer Research Trust so all the funds raised can go directly to research into bone cancer.