Our 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge is underway, with thousands of supporters across the UK stepping up to help find a cure.
Amongst them is a 17-strong team of relatives and friends walking in memory of four-year-old Rayhan Majid, who died from a medulloblastoma in April 2018.
Rayhan started having headaches and being sick in October 2017. His mum Nadia took him to see four different GPs on six separate occasions, but was told nothing was seriously wrong. When Rayhan’s symptoms persisted, Nadia and husband Sarfraz took him to A&E where an MRI scan revealed a mass in his brain.
Despite undergoing surgery, completing radiotherapy and his first round of chemotherapy, Rayhan died on 7th April 2018, just four months after his diagnosis.
To mark the fourth anniversary of his death, Nadia and Sarfraz set up a Fundraising Group last year, which they called Remembering Rayhan.
Nadia, mum also to Eliza and Zak, said: “I signed up to Brain Tumour Research’s 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge along with my sisters, cousins and friends because the campaign resonates so much – walking will always be very symbolic for me as it’s so interlinked with my memories of Rayhan.
“Up to 30% of children who have surgery to the back of the brain develop posterior fossa syndrome, which can include difficulties with speech, movement and swallowing, and sadly Rayhan was one of those. In hospital he started rehabilitation to help him learn to walk again, but it was really when he got home that he managed to make steps without the aid of a walker. Zak called him from across the room and he walked into his brother’s arms.”
To help the team reach its £8,000 target, please visit www.justgiving.com/team/WalkForRayhan
Related reading:
- Rayhan’s story
- Boy dies of cancer after doctors dismissed mother’s warnings six times in The Independent
- Mum demands more funding after son’s tragic death
If you found this story interesting or helpful, sign up to our weekly e-news and keep up to date with all the latest from Brain Tumour Research.