A Carnoustie man whose mother has fought cancer twice has set himself the ambitious target of raising £1 million for Cancer Research.
Jed Smith, 23, is determined to raise the seven-figure sum after his mum Diane and other family members have been touched by the disease.
Diane was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013 and in a routine check up in May this year it was found that she had endometrial cancer, which she is currently in remission from.
Jed, who is a firefighter based at Macalpine Road Fire Station in Dundee, said: “If it wasn’t for all the research then not only my mum but several other people in my family might not be here any more.
“I wanted to set a big fundraising target. Fighting cancer isn’t easy so I didn’t want my target to be easy either.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about it and deciding what to do and am planning to do a lot of fundraising next year.”
Among the fundraising activities planned are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, cycling the North Coast 500, tackling several Munros and running a variety of half and full marathons.
Jed created a charity website last month and has already raised more than £1,000 but the real fundraising drive will start in earnest early next year.
“It is my intention to run, climb and cycle in order to raise the money and awareness,” he explained.
“I’m planning to climb Kilimanjaro in the summer or autumn, which will be a major challenge.
“At the moment I’m building my fitness, getting support from folk and spreading the word.
“I’d like to get out and speak to people about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and how cancer isn’t always the end of the world.
“In my mum’s case, she didn’t want to use the word cancer the first time because the word is scary.
“But what I found is that yes, it makes you ill and it can get you down but it also gives you a new appreciation of what life really means.
“I also want to encourage people to check themselves. In both cases my mum’s cancer was caught early and she’s been able to get over it.”
Jed said people had been positive when he has informed them of his ambitious fundraising target, leaving him hugely encouraged.
“People are surprised that I’ve set my sights so high,” he added.
“Certain people are taken aback but it’s all been really positive. I don’t quite know how I’m going to do it but I don’t see why it can’t be done.
“The reactions have all been positive and that’s spurring me on.
“I’ve no experience of trying to raise this amount of money and I’ve no idea how long it will take. I’m focusing on next year. If it goes into the year after that so be it.”
Jed’s charity page is www.justgiving.com/fundraising/JED-SMITH1
