A Belfast man has paid tribute to his "hardworking" and "family-orientated" father who passed away from cancer in 2019 by running 55 miles in January.
Kenny Humphries marked what would have been his father Kenneth's 69th birthday by setting himself a running challenge in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, a charity very close to his family's hearts.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Kenny said: "My dad was very hardworking and worked all his life right up until his illness and was looking forward to retirement - Harland & Wolff shipyard for 19 years as a steelworker then Howden Sirocco as a forklift driver and he was very very much a family orientated man.
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"My younger sister had a couple of wee boys and it's just very sad that he didn't get the time to see them growing up. Him and my mum doted on each other and went everywhere together, very much soulmates and very much in love with each other after 45 years of marriage.
"I know a lot of people say it about family members but he genuinely was an amazing man who put family first."
Kenneth was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer on December 19, 2017, and sadly passed away on August 19, 2019, at the age of 66.
His son described him as having "so much to live for and to look forward to" and shared how much he misses him.
"We never knew anything about prostate cancer and it was only through my own dad's diagnosis that it opens up a whole conversation - it is only when you start talking about it do you realise it affects more people than you think and know," Kenny added.
In order to keep his fathers legacy alive, Kenny decided to get involved in a running challenge organised by the UK's leading prostate cancer charity to both vital funds and awareness.
He explained: "I had seen a thing on Facebook called 'Run the Month' in aid of Prostate Cancer UK and when my dad passed away in 2019, I knew I was going to do something in memory of him but I wasn't sure what it was going to be.
"Leading up to Christmas of last year, I thought to myself could I do this because I have no experience of running and I wouldn't class myself as a health freak or anything like that but I said I would try it and see."
Kenny headed for three runs before the challenge started in January and thought he wasn't going to be able to do it but on his father's birthday on New Year's Day, he put on his trainers and took off running.
He continued: "You were to do 26.2 miles over the course of the whole month of January and I actually completed it and thought there's still a bit of time left in the month - I was really enjoying it and it was good for my mental health because I am still dealing with my dad's passing and it was a good way to clear my head.
"I decided to keep running and ended up doing 55 miles, which was two marathons instead of the one and I raised £1,530. My goal was to raise £250 so I did well over what I was hoping for.
"With Covid, it has been hard for charities to raise money but it was also to raise awareness because they have said that over the course of the pandemic, there is something like 14,000 undiagnosed men who have prostate cancer that don't know they have it."
Not only did the Belfast man double his running distance in January, he raised six times his original goal which "meant the world" to him.
"The achievement of being able to do it has been mind-blowing. I don't think I would have been able to do it without my friends, family and work colleagues who have been pushing me on to do it," Kenny said.
"It was a personal thing for me and to get more than what I hoped to get meant the world to me - it really means a lot to me. I felt a wee bit like Forrest Gump, it was very enjoyable at the time and I am going to keep at it because it's very good for you.
"It is nice to turn something that wasn't so nice that happened to us a family into something a little bit more positive and that means a lot too - it helps the healing process as well."
To donate or read more of Kenny's story, see here.
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