The daughter of a woman who died months after being diagnosed with brain cancer is marking the 10th anniversary of her death with a running challenge.
Amelia Bronger, 26, from Oxfordshire, is taking on the Brighton Half Marathon this Sunday (25th February) in aid of Brain Tumour Research.
Her mum, Colleen Hopwood, died of a glioblastoma (GBM) just six months after she was diagnosed.
Colleen underwent a craniotomy followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which had to be abandoned due to the gruelling side effects. She died aged 46, in January 2014, leaving behind only child Amelia, who was just 16 at the time.
Civil servant Amelia said: “Training for a half marathon is tough but it’s nothing compared to what my mum went through with her brain cancer.
“Treatment kept her stable, but the doctor told us the cancer was still growing. By this point, Mum was vomiting daily and was very poorly. She made the decision to stop treatment and from there she deteriorated rapidly.”
Amelia has previously organised a concert and sponsored twilight run to raise money, and this year, she is upping the ante to run a half marathon.
Amelia said: “I want people to recognise the historic and ongoing underfunding of research into brain tumours. I’ve seen what happens when cancer affects your brain, and you can lose so much of a person. It’s relentless and debilitating.
“My hope is that raising the profile of brain cancer will help researchers find kinder treatments and ultimately a cure to save lives so other children don’t have to grow up without a mum.”
To donate to Brain Tumour Research via Amelia’s challenge please visit: www.justgiving.com/page/amelia-brighton-half
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