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Mark Taylor's Marathon In Memory Of Jack Chapman
Former Hawk Mark Taylor will be running the London Marathon in April in memory of Jack Chapman and in aid of the Cystinosis Foundation.
Cystinosis is an extremely rare genetic disease that is diagnosed in early childhood, usually before the age of 2. It is autosmal recessive, meaning that it is inherited when a child receives two copies of an abnormal gene, one from each parent. It is estimated that Cystinosis occurs in somewhere between 1 in 100,000 to 1 in 200,000 live births.
This rare condition inflicted deep damage to Harlow Town Football Club when renowned player Danny Chapman's son Jack passed away from Cystinosis back in 2009 at just 18 months old. Since then, our terraced stand has been named in Jack's honour, and the Joma Challenge Cup took place in 2015 in his memory. In that time-frame, Danny Chapman has gone on to manage the Hawks for over 14 years combined, notably winning promotion to the Ryman (Isthmian) Premier League in 2016.
However, Cystinosis has not simply vanished, it continues to cause a threat nationwide, and with no funding in the UK apart from charitable donations, a former Hawk will be running the London Marathon on the 21st April in the hope of raising money for the Cystinosis Foundation.
The former Hawk is Mark Taylor, a midfielder loved by many supporters, known for his fantastic free-kicks and playing a crucial part in the club's glories of the 2000s.
Mark promised Danny and his wife Sue back in 2009 that he would run the Marathon in Jack's memory, however has not seen success in the ballot until now.
Now Mark has finally succeeded in his application, he is looking to raise as much as possible for the Cystinosis Foundation, who will use the money to continue research, in hope of finding a cure for the disease.
We have set up a JustGiving page on which you can donate (all money will go to the Cystinosis Foundation). As well as this, Mark's son Bobby will be a club mascot on the final home game of the season against Southend Manor on the 13th April and Mark will be collecting donations at the game.
Here is a link to the JustGiving donations page:
https://www.justgiving.com/page/kelly-church-1708090422339
We massively appreciate everyone who donates, and will be getting behind Mark as he runs the marathon on 21st April.