A huge thank you to Dominic Jennings for choosing to support OPA Cancer Charity by taking on this incredible challenge, in memory of his Dad.
Your commitment means so much to us, and we wish you the very best of luck throughout your journey.
Dominic’s Story
My Dad was my hero. Most boys think their Dad is invincible and I don’t think I ever let go of that. Dad was a very healthy and active 85 year old, so his illness came as a real shock. He was part of a walking club with my Mum, regularly covering 10 miles and often scouting out new routes for the group right up until he fell ill.
Initially Dad was treated for acid reflux, which I now know is often the case with Oesophageal cancer. However it become very obvious very quickly that it was much more serious than that. In August 2025 he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. We were all devastated but Dad was ever the positive one. He went into hospital to have a stent fitted to aid his eating, with a view to starting the cancer treatment right after. Unfortunately the operation didn’t go well and he deteriorated badly in hospital. After a few weeks we managed to get him home and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. He was in so much pain but his kindness and good humour shone though. My Mum, brother and I managed to have a priceless few weeks with him and he got to say goodbye to his precious grandchildren. He died on the 22 Oct, just over 2 months after his diagnosis.
I knew life would never be the same again, but I also knew I needed to keep myself busy and wanted some good to come out of it, so I quickly decided to do a challenge to raise money for a cancer charity. After a short piece of research I quickly chose OPA because of the excellent work they do to raise awareness and to support families going through something similar.
Although not particularly active beforehand I chose to do the equivalent of a sprint triathlon every week. 52 in total in 2026 – one for every year of my age. The variety of swimming, cycling and running appealed to me, but I had a lot of learning to do through the early months and had to build up the effort slowly. I didn’t even have a road bike, so had to use my Dad’s old bike – he was a keen club cyclist back in the day and never lost his love of bikes.
Eventually my fitness and confidence grew to the point where I felt I could enter my first event, in Guildford using my Dad’s old bike. It was very hard going but I was motivated by all the kind words and generous donations and sponsorship from my family, friends and work colleagues. I am so grateful to each and every one of them. If the money raised can raise awareness and help even one other family going through the same thing, then it was well worth it.
Now that the event is over I still need to complete my challenge for the year. Just 22 more sprint triathlons to go!
