A woman from Devon has raised £5,935 for Brain Tumour Research while training for the Torbay Half Marathon 2024.
Despite the event, planned for Sunday 29th September, being cancelled due to poor weather, Kirsty Clarke was able to raise the funds for two full days of research at one of our Centres of Excellence. Kirsty said that running gave her solace after a “traumatic” period of caring for her dying mother.
Samantha Savage, 56, received a glioblastoma (GBM) diagnosis in 2022 after suffering a seizure. It was predicted that the brain tumour would destroy her ability to speak, walk, think, read, and write. Kirsty, from Paignton, said: “Mum’s last months were marred by endless struggle. Everything that makes life meaningful became nearly impossible.”
Medical professionals decided Samantha’s GBM was inoperable, due to the size and location of the tumour, so she instead underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and was placed on a high dose of steroids to control the seizures.
The treatment drastically changed her appearance and caused her to lose control of the right side of her body.
Despite living longer than doctors expected, Samantha passed away in April 2024. Kirsty said: “She finally earned her wings. Our family is heartbroken by her loss. She was a vibrant, healthy woman when she was diagnosed, and her life was cruelly stolen.
“I'm raising money for this charity to help other families facing such painful diagnoses and the grim prognosis that comes with this often-overlooked cancer, which I believe is one of the most brutal.”
Kirsty also supports our calls to the Government to release the remaining 75% of investment into research that was promised six years ago: “It’s maddening to hear that the government hasn’t invested the £40 million into research that it promised in 2018. The public needs to be made more aware.
“It’s one of the worst things can happen to somebody, and nobody seems to know anything about it.”
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Published Tuesday 15th October 2024.