2:00pm Saturday 31st July 2010
By Dan Hearn
THE brother of Little Star Jake Spicer is urging people to sign up for a football tournament in memory of the teenager.
Jake, 15, died last year following a five-and-a-half year battle with bone cancer.
Now his brother, Aaron Spicer, 21, is calling on people get a team together and raise money for a charity which sent Jake on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the US shortly before he died.
It is the second tournament organised by Mr Spicer, of Shepherd’s Hill, Greater Leys.
More than 500 people turned out for the inaugural event last year.
He said: “Last August’s football tournament was fantastic – we want this year’s to be even better.
“Jake was such a brave and inspirational young lad who touched the lives of so many people around the city.
“We want to make sure his courage and smile are remembered forever.”
The five-a-side matches take place at Peers Leisure Centre, in Littlemore, next Saturday, and will raise money for the Thomas Ball Children’s Cancer Fund.
Mr Spicer said: “It’s a brilliant charity and we thought it was about time we helped it again. It paid for Jake to go to America, where he had an amazing time. It meant so much to him.
“Now we want to try and raise as much money as possible to help send other children facing similar battles to Jake on these amazing trips.”
Jake died at the Helen and Douglas House hospice in East Oxford on July 8 last year. He was suffering from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
The teenager, known as the ‘OX4 soldier’, was passionate about motorbikes and was made an honorary member of the Oxford chapter of the Harley Davidson Owners Group.
This year the chapter renamed its annual toy run the Jake Spicer Memorial Run in his memory.
Jake, a pupil at St Gregory the Great School, East Oxford, threw himself into charity work after he was diagnosed, raising thousands of pounds.
He was named a Cancer Research UK Little Star in December 2007.
The tournament runs from 11am to 5pm and entrance costs £5 per player.
Anyone who wants to enter a team can call Mr Spicer on 07891 470485 or email kieronsdaddy@hotmail.co.uk
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