One evening, as 12-year-old Beth Phelps was getting ready for bed and brushing her teeth, her parents noticed something unusual—a lump sticking out from her shoulder, visible through her T-shirt.

Up until that moment, Beth had been a healthy, energetic girl. But a doctor’s visit quickly turned their world upside down. Tests revealed a 7-centimeter tumor on her left lung. The diagnosis: Ewing sarcoma, a rare and aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer.

Beth immediately began treatment, enduring surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation. Her strength and resilience paid off—eventually, doctors declared her cancer-free.

But in June 2022, Beth began feeling pain in her right shoulder. It worsened, and an X-ray confirmed their worst fears: the cancer had returned, this time in her other lung. The outlook was much bleaker.

Beth passed away on October 3, 2022.

Before she died, doctors offered her family a chance to participate in a clinical trial. But her parents chose palliative care instead, focusing on making her remaining time as peaceful and comfortable as possible.

“Our world, in the blink of an eye, was completely turned upside down,” her father, Ben Phelps, said. “Beth had no warning signs—she was a happy, healthy girl. She took every treatment in stride, even though she was terrified of needles. When we learned her cancer had come back, we were devastated.”

He added, “We’d never even heard of Ewing sarcoma before. That’s why I’m trying to raise as much money as possible—to help fund better, kinder treatments so more children have a chance to survive.”

To honor Beth’s memory, Ben is now taking on a major cycling challenge: riding from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland to raise money for the Bone Cancer Research Trust.

“Beth is my guiding light and inspiration,” he said. “We miss her every single day, but I’m determined to make a difference in her name.”