A bereaved mum and her two young children are starring in our new hard-hitting campaign.
Shaz Hetherington is sharing the story of her husband David in our Stop the Devastation campaign. David died in November 2016, aged 39, having been diagnosed with a brain tumour when Shaz was 31 weeks pregnant with their first child. His tumour was initially a low-grade oligoastrocytoma, which over time changed to a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
Shaz, pictured with Layla, nine, and Daniel, seven, said: “David and I met at work and we hit it off straight away. People said we were made for each other and he was definitely my soul mate. We had so many plans for what we were going to do together. After his diagnosis, we lived from scan to scan. When it was good news, we would go on holiday and then it got to a time when there were no more holidays. My heart is broken, I live from day to day and, were it not for the children, I don’t know what I would do. It’s lonely being a widow, not something I ever thought I would be in my 30s.”
The statistics surrounding brain tumours are shocking. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Despite this, historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. And, tragically, 88% of those diagnosed die within five years.
Click here to learn more about the patients and families taking part in the campaign and find out how you can support our #NoMore campaign on social media.
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