24 Mar 2025

Braith remembers his brother, Lyndon

Fifteen years after he lost his brother, Lyndon, to leukaemia, Braith Tomlinson has decided to remember him by running the London Marathon and raising money for Leukaemia UK. 

Lyndon and Braith and their two brothers were raised in Tasmania, Australia. They both moved away for their careers – Lyndon to work for the Government in Sydney as an occupational health and safety inspector, and Braith to California where he worked for Apple. 

At the beginning of 2009, Lyndon, who was 30 at the time, started to experience unexplained pain in his body. He was given a blood test which showed low platelet levels. More extensive tests were carried out and he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). 

ALL is much more common in children than adults. Between 2018 and 2020 in the UK there were almost twice as many children (under 20 years old) diagnosed as adults.  

“He was given several rounds of chemotherapy in Sydney, and then went into remission”, said Braith, now 49, who now lives in Warfield, Berkshire and works for Adobe. “I returned to Australia that year to be married and was able to go with him to some of his final chemotherapy appointments – we got to spend plenty of time together. The chemotherapy treatment was a stock-standard treatment which resulted in all the usual side effects – vomiting, hair loss, weight loss, loss of appetite. But he got through it.” 

In 2010 Lyndon and his family were devasted to learn his ALL had returned. Doctors suggested a stem cell transplant. Braith had been tested when he was still in the US to see if he was a match to donate bone marrow cells but he wasn’t. So Lyndon was given a transplant of donated cord blood cells. However tragically the transplant didn’t work. Lyndon passed away on 20th August 2010 surrounded by his family.  

“Throughout Lyndon’s treatment I remember feeling helpless. I also remember at the time saying I’d like to do something to raise money for leukaemia research. I’ve always been a pretty healthy guy but I only took up serious long distance running recently and completed the Richmond Park half marathon last year. I really enjoyed it and decided to do more in 2025.  I’ve never done charity fundraising before but Leukaemia UK was the charity I felt connected to when I was looking around. This year will be the 15th anniversary of Lyndon’s passing, and I want to do something to mark the anniversary.” 

 Braith Tomlinson is fundraising for Leukaemia UK