How getting to Buckingham Palace will require heroic effort from dad

LOCAL entrepreneur Henry Quinlan who owns an eco-supermarket called Earthfare which he ran with his late father Andrew will climb Mont Blanc, cycle 875km, row across the English Channel and run 120km in a gruelling tribute journey ending at Buckingham Palace.

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Henry, 33, from Glastonbury, will start the multi-stage challenge called 'Peak 2 Palace' in June in tribute to his "hero" father Andrew, a former Royal Marine and businessman who died in November 2022 from a rare cancer, retroperitoneal liposarcoma, at age 59.

Andrew first realised he wasn’t well in March 2022 when he had abdominal and back pain, fatigue and nausea. After several investigations and a CT scan, he was diagnosed with an abdominal tumour measuring 10 x 5cms in May.

It was a rare and aggressive tumour and it was difficult to identify the type of cancer and, therefore, how to treat it.

Another episode of severe pain in June meant an emergency hospital visit and another CT scan this showed the tumour had doubled in size.

Eventually it was identified as a retroperitoneal liposarcoma a rare and aggressive soft tissue sarcoma.

Medics found a tumour the size of a rugby ball in Andrew’s abdomen. Although it was borderline inoperable at this stage, major surgery was carried out in July from which he recovered remarkably well, due to his good level of fitness and his determination and spirit.