St Ambrose College sixth form student Jack Waywell has completed a three kilometre night swim in Salford Quays – in memory of the best mate he lost to cancer five years ago.
Jack had been friends with Alex Hulme since they were toddlers having grown up just a few doors down from each other in Sale.
But tragically, Alex passed away in 2011 at the age of just 12, months after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“Alex was the smart one, everyone said so,” said Jack, “and I still miss him today.”
Jack completed the swim with his mum Carolyn, a heart failure specialist practitioner, on the anniversary of his best friend’s death and brings the total raised by the Alex Hulme Foundation – set up by Alex’s mum, dad and aunt – to over £220,000.
Jack said: “As my Dad’s bank, the HSBC, doubles everything we raise I think our family’s contribution is now over £5,000.”
He is still regularly in touch with Alex’s family and often looks after his little brother, taking him to the cinema.
Jack, who got nine good GCSEs and is studying Business, English and Economics in the St Ambrose College Sixth Form, aiming to go into business management. He added: “I often think about Alex and what he might be doing now and I know we’d still be best friends.”
On his endurance swim, he added: “It might sound awful but Salford Docks is actually quite clean, and it wasn’t that cold. The problem came seeing where you were going and trying to make out the buoys, but as normal mum had it covered.”
