A Coventry family are cycling from the CBS Arena to London and running from Highfield Road to the CBS Arena every weekend of the summer to raise £40,000 for their father’s immunotherapy treatment in Germany – after he was diagnosed with a grade 4 brain tumour in February, their health insurer declined to cover his surgery the day before it was scheduled, and the family paid £45,000 out of their own savings because there was simply no other option.
The fundraiser – Sky Blue Miles for Dad – was set up by Hari Pannum and his brothers for their father, a lifelong Coventry City supporter who watched the Sky Blues at Highfield Road for decades and, this year, saw his club earn promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years. The family want him to do the same.
“You don’t have to follow football to understand what it means to support something through the hard years – relegations, failed promotions, every season that promised and didn’t deliver and then to finally see it rewarded,” Hari writes on the fundraising page. “This year, his club made it to the Premier League and we want Dad to push through just like Coventry City has.”
What happened
On 1 February 2026, their father was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma – the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Two weeks later, he underwent urgent surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible.
The surgery was successful. But the day before it was due to take place, the family’s health insurance provider declined to cover it – despite having previously given the family assurances that it would be covered. With no time to appeal and no alternative given the urgency of the procedure, the family paid £45,000 from their collective savings.
“Whilst we do not regret it for a single second, it means we have already given close to everything we have,” Hari writes.
Their father has since been receiving NHS radiotherapy and chemotherapy, for which the family are grateful. That treatment is due to finish within weeks. And this is where the NHS pathway, in their words, “runs out of road.”
The NHS gap in glioblastoma treatment
Glioblastoma is one of the most difficult cancers to treat. The standard of care – surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy – has not meaningfully changed in nearly 20 years. Most patients with grade 4 GBM survive an average of 12 to 15 months following diagnosis. Recurrence rates are high and treatment options after standard care are severely limited in the UK.
What is beginning to change, at specialist centres in Europe, is personalised immunotherapy. The approach uses a patient’s own tumour profile to train their immune system to target and fight the cancer. Real-world data from centres including CeGaT in Tübingen, Germany – the centre the Pannum family have identified as their preferred option – is beginning to show significantly better outcomes for patients with this approach.
It is not available on the NHS. For families who want to pursue it, that means travelling abroad and funding it privately.
Standard immunotherapy treatments can cost up to £200,000 per cycle. The family have found a more accessible pathway at CeGaT in Tübingen, where the initial course costs €80,000 with further booster treatments at approximately €60,000 each. They have already committed €30,000 through loans and remaining savings. The JustGiving fundraiser is bridging the gap.
The challenge
Hari is cycling 112 miles from the CBS Arena – Coventry City’s home – to the Premier League’s headquarters in London in a single day. After that, he will cycle from the Premier League headquarters to Premier League grounds across the country on subsequent weekends.
His brother is running from Highfield Road – the club’s former home where their father watched the Sky Blues for decades – to the CBS Arena. He will do it every weekend, as many times as he can between now and the first game of the Premier League season.
“Whilst my brothers and I can’t change what GBM is, nor the circumstances that have led us here today, what we can change is how we react,” Hari writes. “We can get on a bike, and we can run, and we can do it with the support of anyone who has ever believed in something or someone battling against the odds.”
Updates – every mile cycled, every run completed – are being posted to the family’s Instagram page at @skybluemilesfordad.
How to help
The fundraiser has raised £11,430 of its £40,000 target from 148 supporters at the time of publication. Every penny raised goes directly toward treatment and travel costs to Germany. Any amount raised beyond the target will go to The Brain Tumour Charity.
To donate, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/skybluemilesfordad
If donating is not possible, sharing the page costs nothing. As Hari puts it: “A single share could reach the person who puts us over the line.”
