A dad was given the heart-breaking news he had incurable cancer after his first visit to the doctor in 30 years. Mark Scarr had a wellness check in late 2019 - the first time he had been to the GP in around three decades - where it was discovered he had advanced liver cancer.
Mark, from Darlington, County Durham, only told wife Christine about his diagnosis because he didn't want to 'ruin' their upcoming Christmas celebrations with their family, TeesideLive reports. Tragically, he died just months later in February 2020.
Devastated Christine, 58, has paid tribute to her husband, who she described as the "life and soul" of their family. The pair first got together in 2010, marrying in 2014.
She pushed him to go to the doctors for a wellness check because he hadn't been in so long, which is where doctors found something concerning in his blood - which was confirmed as advanced liver cancer.
They decided not to tell the rest of their family as it was so close to Christmas. He only started to feel unwell in the early weeks of 2020.
Christine said: "Mark was such a huge character and was honestly the life and soul of our family. He was everyone's go to for support when they needed it and his loss still hits us so hard because he seemed invincible.
"I pushed him to go for a wellness check at the doctors because he hadn't been for nearly 30 years. The doctors picked up something in his blood and confirmed it as advanced liver cancer, we found out but didn't tell family because it was so close to Christmas and Mark didn't want to ruin it for everyone - that's what sort of man he was he always put others first."
Since Mark's death, Christine has raised almost £30,000 in memory of Mark for Macmillan Cancer Support, who supported him and his family during his final months battling with the disease. With the help of Mark's son Luke, Christine set up a GoFundMe page in the days after Mark's passing to fundraise for the charity and the page managed to raise over £4,300 in the weeks leading up to Mark's funeral.
Just a month after Mark's passing, the Covid lockdown was enforced, meaning Christine was only able to fundraise via the GoFundMe page, which had then turned into an official Macmillan tribute page where people could share their thoughts of the popular Mark, as well as raise funds for the cancer support charity.
Christine was spurred on to fundraise due to her husband's generous nature. She added: "We've had success with the fundraising because so many people knew Mark and he was such a generous person, he was always giving money to charity. I worked for Marks and Spencer for years and we worked really closely with Macmillan, so I thought it was a fitting charity to fundraise for in memory of Mark when he passed away."
As lockdown restrictions began to ease, Christine began running in-person fundraising. In 2021 she completed a 26 mile hike across the Yorkshire Dales with a large group of friends and family, walking another 26 miles across the Northumberland Coast in 2022 as well as countless coffee mornings - which Macmillan are known best for when it comes to fundraising.
Rebecca, Mark's daughter, held numerous coffee mornings at the pub she works at, The Devonport in Middleton One Row, where she was able to raise funds for Macmillan in memory of her much loved dad.
Mark was also an avid golfer and his former club, Darlington Golf Club, ran a charity golf tournament in 2021 where the victor would take home the Mark Scarr Memorial Trophy. Almost three years since Christine began her fundraising campaigns to keep Mark's memory alive, she has raised almost £30,000 in tribute to her husband.
She said: "We've been overwhelmed with amazing support and generosity, I know Mark would be hugely proud of us all and he'd definitely be laughing at us at times - he wouldn't believe that I've walked two 26 mile hikes for a start! We always say that he's never far away from us and he'll stay alive in our memories as long as we have them, Mark comes from a very big close knit family so although his death broke us, we think and talk about him everyday."
Although Christine has been the main driving force behind the fundraising in memory of Mark, she has received tonnes of support from friends, family and all those who knew her husband.
The total of the fundraising stands at £29,092, with Christine hoping to get to £30,000 by the end of 2022. Speaking of future plans to remember her husband, Christine explained: "I'm definitely going to keep fundraising for as long as I can but I think it's going to be more difficult due to the cost of living, so I understand if donations do slow down a little bit.
"I haven't got any ideas for upcoming fundraising events but I'll think carefully on how we can keep supporting Macmillan and keep the memory of Mark alive. Fundraising is our way of saying thank you to Macmillan for the support they showed us and Mark towards the end of his life, and the support they continue to give us."
You can donate to Mark's memorial fundraising page here.
