By Isabel Ramirez
October 29, 2022
Source: Southwark News
Photo Source: Unsplash, Accuray
The pair met on a dating app but six months later Lucie Simpson was given the devastating news.
A Herne-Hill man has raised thousands for Guy’s hospital cancer patients after his girlfriend of six months was diagnosed at just 27 years old.
After his partner Lucie Simpson received a devastating cancer diagnosis, Toby Lock has raised over £8,000 to support others facing similar.
Twenty-eight-year-old Toby recently cycled more than 200km in one day in a fundraising ride in honour of girlfriend Lucie – who he met on Hinge – and to raise funds for Guy’s Cancer Charity. In February this year, Lucie received the news that she had breast cancer at 27 years old. She said it had always been in the back of her mind that it might happen. “My mum had it when she was 29 – so it was always in the back of my mind. But you never think it’s going to be you.”
She was referred to a team at the Guy’s Cancer, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and quickly began treatment. “It all happened so fast,” Lucie said. Lucie undergoing chemotherapyLucie had five months of chemotherapy before a double mastectomy and is currently undergoing radiotherapy at the Cancer Centre at Guy’s. “Toby has been so supportive. We’d only been together six months when I got diagnosed!” Lucie explained. “When I got the news, I basically said – ‘are you in or out?’ But he was in, and has been all the way.” As well as supporting Lucie directly, Toby wanted to give back to the staff at Guy’s to thank them for the care she received.
He said: “Despite it being such a devastating time, the care Lucie has received has been amazing and the team at Guy’s Cancer have made the journey so much easier.”
In July, Toby decided to raise money for the charity by cycling from their home in Herne Hill to St Albans in Hertfordshire, where Lucie is from, to Devizes in Wiltshire where he is from. He nicknamed the ride “Tour De Luce”.
The ‘Tour de Luce’ took 14 hours to completeToby said: “I’ve been cycling for a few years now, but nothing like this before. I did a lot of training, but it was still really difficult.” The cycle took 14 hours to complete and they’ve currently raised nearly £9,000. “We just wanted to give back for all of the care that Lucie has had. If fundraising in some way helps someone else to get the cancer treatment that they need, that’s the end goal.” Lucie explained that the money is going towards research into the BRCA gene, which is what lead to her developing breast cancer. Lucie said: “The care I received really was above and beyond anything I was expecting. Everyone involved was fantastic but the nurses were phenomenal.
“I actually miss going in for my chemo!” she added.
Clinical nurse specialist Grainne Finnerty, who worked in the breast cancer team while Lucie was undergoing treatment said: “To know that Lucie is continuing to do so well following the treatment is so heartening and to hear she was so happy with her care really does make everything we do so worth it.”
Following her treatment, Lucie’s care team are positive about her future and she’s recently been able to socialise with friends and begin getting on with her life again. Toby is already looking at turning Tour De Luce into an annual fundraising event.
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