When Stephen Bennett discovered his youngest daughter, Leah, had cancer, he knew exactly who to turn to for support. The 42-year-old was able to rely on his childhood friends who had faced their own cancer diagnoses and lost loved ones to the disease, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Stephen's pals David McKie and James Thomas have both been successfully treated for testicular cancer, while brothers Alan and Shaun McKeegan sadly lost their dad to lymphoma. Over the past 18 months, the friends have held a host of events including a mini music festival, a black-tie casino night, a sponsored swim, numerous raffles, and auctions.
Stephen, of St Helens, was shown a 3D print of the tumour that was killing his daughter. In 2020 he told the Echo: "Staring at it in front of my eyes was just horrifying - it looked huge and holding it made the hairs on my neck stand up. I held in my hands the very thing that was killing my little girl and that is quite a chilling experience."
