Running Together

The Witchell family will be out in force again on October 4th for the Cardiff Half Marathon, with Jo, 56, Bethan, 23, and Rhys, 18 taking on the course, and Paul, 56, and Jac, 14, acting as the support squad and cheering them on. This will be the 13th time Jo will lace up her running shoes to take on the Cardiff Half in aid of Latch, and the second for both Bethan and Rhys, but the first time all three of them will be running together. 

The family’s dedicated support for Latch stretches back over more than 16 years, to when Rhys, aged 2, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).

‘He was diagnosed on the Friday, completely out of the blue’ Jo recalls. 

‘His nursery school had phoned me and said he was a bit off colour, a bit peaky, and he was quite pale. We just thought it might have been his teeth, he was two-and-a-half, and that he'd come home from nursery and he'd be bouncing on the trampoline and be absolutely fine. But they kept saying “you should go and get him checked out.”’

‘We took him to the doctors the next morning and the doctor said “oh, he does look a bit pale, I think he might be anaemic, we'll get some bloods done.”’ 

‘Later that evening at 6pm, we were all ready to go out of the house to a friend’s for tea and a car pulled up outside and I could see the doctor walking up the drive. At 6pm on a Friday evening, you don't get a doctor that comes and does a house call.’ 

‘He just said, “Rhys's bloods have come back, they think he's got leukaemia, you need to pack a bag and go straight to the hospital.” I asked, “What do you mean pack a bag? How long are we going to be there for?” I was just thinking, we’re going out for tea, we’ve got a date to go to. He said “I don’t know, just pack a bag” and gave us the instructions and then off we went.’ 

Jo and her husband Paul quickly sorted care for their daughter Bethan, who was only 6 at the time, before leaving for the Children’s Hospital for Wales.

‘Paul and I both stayed in the hospital on the first night. We knew we going to be in for the long haul, so from the second day we said we'd alternate, Paul would stay one night, I would stay the next, so that one of us would always be there for Bethan, and so Rhys wouldn’t be reliant on one parent

After a week or so we were told he had a problem with his liver from the chemotherapy, so the doctors told us they were going to send us to the Birmingham Hospital to the liver specialists. They told us to, again, pack a suitcase. 

“You're off to Birmingham. We can't do anymore for him here in Cardiff”. 

‘We'd got into that routine in Cardiff and the last thing we wanted to do then was to have to up sticks and move to Birmingham. Luckily, they didn't have a place, but every day for about three days, they were saying “right, you're going to Birmingham today”. So, we were sat there with our suitcases, and then, thank goodness, it turned around and his liver started to improve. So thankfully we didn't have to go.’

As the family only lived a 15-minute walk from the hospital, Rhys was discharged after three weeks and able to travel back into the hospital each day for treatment. And so, for the next three and a half years, that became their routine.

‘It was definitely confusing at first as I was only 6,’ Bethan said, reflecting on her memories of when her brother underwent treatment. 

‘I would say I was quick to pick up that something was wrong as Rhys was in hospital and not coming out. I remember getting these little books that helped explain what was happening to Rhys body which helped, and I had a play therapist come and visit me, and spend time talking to me and making worry dolls’ 

Support from Latch

As the family adjusted to life during Rhys’s treatment, support from Latch became an important part of helping them cope. 

‘Because we lived so close we didn’t have to use the Latch accommodation’ Jo said, ‘but at the start my sister used to come up and use the cooking facilities and make us some food rather than just having to eat takeaways. 

‘Everything that Latch did was always to try and make things easier for the children, having all the fun facilities and toys there, and the parties that they organised, and the people that they brought in when you were in hospital, like clowns and entertainers.

‘That was lovely for Bethan at the time as well, because there were fun things to do, it wasn't all about going into the hospital and seeing the awful treatment Rhys had. Seeing all the children together, along with the support available for siblings, really helped us as a family.’

Fundraising for Latch

Over the last decade and a half, the Witchell's have raised more than £30,000 for Latch through all sorts of activities, including a banquet at Cardiff Castle, cycling the Carten100 twice, running the London Marathon three times, and taking on the Cardiff Half Marathon more than a dozen times.

‘I did the Carten in 2017, and I said I would never do it again’ Jo said, speaking about her experiences of cycling the 108-mile Carten100 challenge, that takes participants from Cardiff to Tenby. 

‘Then a few years later Latch was the lead charity, so I had to do it again. But I will never ever do it again. Give me a marathon any day, not a cycle.’

‘I started running the Cardiff Half Marathon, over 20 years ago. I run on a regular basis, and because I like to have something to aim for, it becomes a focus, I like to have something in the diary.’ Jo said, reflecting on why she started running the half. 

‘Then I suppose after you've done it a couple of times, you just automatically enter again, and then it becomes sort of quite iconic. 

‘I love it because you run through the heart of Cardiff, and we live in Cardiff and there's so many people that come out and support. Paul damaged his knee playing Rugby years ago, so he’s never been able to do it, but he’s always there supporting. He’s my biggest supporter. He’s always at every race, at every marathon’

This year’s event will carry particular significance. 

‘I have a picture from that first year I ran it for Latch; of Beth and Rhys, Paul and I, I wouldn't have thought that all these years later we'd have the opportunity to re-enact that photo with the three of us running. 

‘I ran it with Rhys last year, and Bethan a few years ago, but we've never all done it together.’

For Rhys, taking part in last year’s event was a milestone of its own. 

‘It was a really special experience for me, taking on the Cardiff Half last year. It was the first time I had ever run a half marathon and running with Mum made it even more special’ Rhys said, 

‘Although once we started running, I ran quicker than her and left her pretty much straight away. 

‘I don’t really remember much of treatment, but as I’ve grown older, I’m more aware of what I went through and what my family had to go through which makes be appreciate my fitness to run a half marathon even more.’

For Jo, seeing her son preparing to run again remains difficult to put into words. 

‘When he was going through his treatment, it was very, very hard’ Jo said. ‘It’s difficult in your head to think that your child will be one of the lucky ones and will be absolutely be fine and he'll get to 18 and he'll be running half marathons for Latch and he'll also be achieving so much in sport and in school and even going off to university. 

‘But he was amazing and reacted really well to the treatment, and look at him now., He’s a strapping 18-year-old man, he’s just had his A-levels, and he’s off to UNI !