A man who lost his mother to cancer is raising money for charity in her honour.
Gavin Sargent, 51, has been selected as the Eaton Golf Club's captain for 2016 and has chosen Macmillan Cancer Support as his captain's charity.
He decided to do so in memory of his late mother, Jean, who lost her battle with the disease in 2005, aged 67.
'We were always a little family of three, just mum, dad and I,' said Mr Sargent.
'Mum was and always will be my best friend – everything a mother should be.
'She was always there, always caring and thoughtful, always guiding and supporting me.
'Being 11 years younger than dad [Brian, now aged 88], we never thought it might be her who left us first, but in early 2005 she developed symptoms worrying enough to be put through a series of tests for cancer.'
The penultimate test came back clear, but Mr Sargent sensed something was wrong with the final test for kidney cancer.
'I drove back to Norwich from my work in Sheffield and the miles could not pass quickly enough,' he said. 'As I parked in the drive she was standing at the front door and she broke into a thousand tears as she told me the diagnosis was renal cancer and it was terminal.'
She was given just months to live, but Mr Sargent said his mother's determination was 'astonishing' and they shared some 'wonderful and heartwarming' times together in her last four months. Mrs Sargent spent her final days at Priscilla Bacon Lodge in Norwich, where she was cared for by Macmillan nurses.
Mr Sargent said that his maternal grandparents gave him his first golf lessons on holiday in Scotland as a child, and his mother was always interested in how much he enjoyed the game.
'Now I've been lucky enough to be elected captain of Eaton Golf Club – the golf course our family home has overlooked my entire life – it's only appropriate I should nominate Macmillan Cancer Support as the charity we will raise funds for in 2016,' he said.
The main charity day is on May 20 and there will be fundraising events throughout the year.
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