March 1, 2023 9.00 pm This story is over 22 months old

Jake Quickenden to take on London Marathon in memory of brother and father

He suffered a double family tragedy earlier in his life

By Local Democracy Reporter

Jake Quickenden is running the London Marathon in memory of his brother and father, who both passed away from bone cancer within three years of each other.

Scunthorpe-born Jake Quickenden is a reality TV personality and The Lincolnite‘s Person of the Year for 2022, best known for his appearances on The X Factor, his runner-up placing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and his win on Dancing On Ice in 2018.

His father Paul died of a rare bone marrow cancer in 2008.

His younger brother Oliver then died of the same disease three years later at just 19 years of age.

The Quickenden family, including Jake and his brothers along with his parents. | Photo: JustGiving

This saw his world come tumbling down around him, particularly as his mother had survived a skin cancer scare a few years earlier.

Since then, Jake has been a keen advocate of regularly checking your body for symptoms of cancer.

Jake works regularly with the Teenage Cancer Trust and Cancer Research UK, and will take his charitable efforts a step further later as he embarks on the test of endurance.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

The 34-year-old will be running this year’s London Marathon on April 23, raising money for Sarcoma UK, a charity which funds research and offers support for anyone affected by the disease.

Jake’s role as a Lincolnshire celebrity has seen him leave his mark on the local community as well. He has starred in the last two Christmas pantomime productions at Lincoln’s New Theatre Royal and even had a gritter lorry named after him in his birth area of North Lincolnshire.

His JustGiving page has, at the time of reporting, already raised almost £4,500 from a £10,000 target, and you can still donate by visiting the link here.


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