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Squash
community backing brave Sumner
The father of Sumner Malik, the
10-year-old diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer, has paid tribute
to the “unbelievable and overwhelming support” from the squash
community for his son’s fight to survive, writes Mike Dale.
Sussex county junior player Sumner has
DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma), of which only 40 cases are
diagnosed each year. There is no confirmed cure, the survival rate
is non-existent and children live for an average of just nine months
after diagnosis.
Sumner’s parents, Camron and Suzan,
first noticed something was wrong when Sumner began losing his
balance and missing the ball on court. He also had difficulty
swallowing and talking.
Those initial signals led to his
devastating diagnosis. Sumner’s remaining hope is to raise £80,000
for cutting-edge trial treatments that are not covered by the NHS.
Shocked fellow parents on the junior
squash circuit started the #SunshineforSummer campaign, which has
spread rapidly on social media and has already seen the total money
raised pass the halfway mark.
“The response and support we’ve had
from people within squash shows just why we all love this sport so
much. These are people whose kids compete against mine most weekends
and they’re so special. It’s a lovely community, like a family,”
Camron told Squash Player.
Sumner is one of triplets and also has
two older brothers and a sister. All play at the K2 Leisure Centre
in Crawley and have represented Sussex, with two (Curtis and Torrie)
playing for England.
#SunshineforSumner received global
attention thanks to the PSA, who invited Sumner, his parents and
five siblings to Cairo as VIP guests at the men’s World
Championship.
SquashTV viewers heard Sumner
co-commentate on the quarter-finals alongside Paul Johnson and Joey
Barrington with great eloquence and good humour. “He had them all
cracking up behind the scenes too,” reveals Camron.
“My wife and I had our honeymoon in
Egypt, so it was very special and poignant to return in such
circumstances. For a squash-mad family it was just such an amazing
trip, beyond a dream really. We take our hats off to the PSA for
thinking up the idea and planning it so perfectly.”
SquashTV viewers heard Sumner
co-commentate on the quarter-finals alongside
Paul Johnson and Joey Barrington at the men’s World Championship | 
