THE family of local man, Benjamin Millard, who died last month at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer, have said that they will continue to fundraise and raise awareness of the disease in his memory.
Benjamin, or ‘Benj’ as he was known to family and friends, died on Monday 15th April. His diagnosis of cancer in August last year sparked a huge fundraising campaign to raise money to pay for treatment not available on the NHS to help prolong his life.
Over 64,000 was donated to the cause, which the family will be sharing a proportion of with Dorothy House Hospice Care, who supported both Benjamin and his family. Donations are still coming in and the family have said that these will be given direct to the Dorothy House Tulip Fund.
The family also set up the ‘The Bowel Movement’ to help support their fundraising efforts and raise awareness of bowel cancer signs and symptoms.
Announcing the news of Benjamin’s death on ‘The Bowel Movement’ Facebook page, the family said, “It is with an extremely heavy heart that we break the news that our beloved, beautiful Benj was sadly taken from us too early following a short and tough battle with bowel cancer. He was a real super hero to the very end and we are immensely proud of him.
“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all the wonderful staff at Dorothy House who provided Benj with so much care, support and attention in his final days.”
Speaking to Frome Times about the future of ‘The Bowel Movement’, Benjamin’s sister, Steph Millard, said, “The plan at the moment is to send as many funds to Dorothy House Hospice as possible. Their work and support throughout Benj’s time there was just phenomenal, and we want to do everything we can to repay them.
“The plan is for ‘The Bowel Movement’ to also continue. We would love to be able to help other families that have to go through the heartache that is bowel cancer and be able to support them.
“Of course we will need time to come to terms with what has happened for us, but will look to try and do something with it in the not too distant future, as our way of giving back to everyone who was so kind and generous throughout Benj’s battle.”
Following the news of Benjamin’s death, tributes have poured in from across the area, including many from local football teams, with some holding a minute’s silence at games over the Easter weekend and others paying tribute in their match programmes.
“Throughout Benj’s life he loved his sport and he played football for many local teams,” explained Steph. “He started football as a youngster with Frome Collegians, moving to Frome Town sports, then as a young adult to Radstock under 16s, Bath City under 18s, then as an adult he played for Larkhall, Radstock Town and Trowbridge Town.
“The support and respect from them has been phenomenal.”
A funeral service for Benjamin was held last month at West Wiltshire Crematorium. To donate to ‘The Bowel Movement’ visit the website: https://uk.gofundme.com/the-bowel-movement
For information and updates from ‘The Bowel Movement’, you can follow the Facebook page: The B0wel Movement (O in Bowel is the numerical 0); the Instagram page: @The_Bowel_Movement; and the Twitter page: @The_B_Movement
