A YOUNG man is on a journey to raise funds in memory of his mother by kayaking the entire Cornish coast.  

On Wednesday July 10, Oscar Matthews will be setting out on a 350-km kayak around the entire coast of Cornwall to raise a target £20,000 for The Sophie Fitzpatrick Charitable Foundation for Rare Cancers.  

The foundation was set up in memory of Oscar’s mother who died in May 2023 of goblet cell carcinoma (GCC), an extremely rare cancer that only occurs in around one in five million people.  

Oscar said “Throughout her life, Ma radiated selflessness and kindness. She possessed an unwavering spirit of empathy, always ready to lend a listening ear or offer a helping hand to those in need. But Ma was also very practical and I’m sure she would approve of me embarking on this journey to raise funds for the Foundation to support those diagnosed with rare cancers like hers. Goblet cell carcinoma attracts less attention from researchers than the big cancer killers but is no less devasting in its impact on the individual and the loved ones that are left behind. I sincerely hope that the funds I raise on my kayak around Cornwall and its beautiful coasts my mother loved, will contribute to helping others suffering from these life-destroying diseases.”  

Sophie was diagnosed with GCC during the Covid-19 pandemic just after the first lockdown ended in June 2020. During her treatment she discovered that research and knowledge about her disease was very scarce. She felt as though she was fighting a silent battle, surrounded by a medical community unfamiliar with the intricacies of her illness, but displayed immense strength and courage, despite the pain and fatigue, to live life exactly as she had before her diagnosis. 

Oscar’s journey will cover some 350 km, taking an estimated ten days. He has been training in pools and on the River Thames in London with his longest kayaking session to date being eight kilometers. He aims, weather permitting, to paddle some 35 km per day, battling the Cornish elements and the Atlantic Ocean.  

A particularly poignant moment will be when he reaches Crackington Haven near the end of his journey, southwest of Bude on the north Cornish coast. This is the coastal village which Sophie made her home, and where she is buried half a mile away in the local graveyard of the Church of Saint Genesius on a sloping site in the hamlet of St Gennys.  

His friends, his wife, Bella and six-month old daughter Elka, will be cheering Oscar on as will his family including three brothers, Benjamin, Mungo and Hamish.