A woman is preparing for a 24-hour walking challenge to help find a cure for brain tumours.
Heidi Clevett will walk 106km in 24 hours around the Isle of Wight coast this April. She is raising funds in memory of her mum, Elaine Clevett, who died on 1st December 2021, just four months after being diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
After family and friends noticed Elaine ‘acting strange’, her husband Dave and Heidi took her to A&E where a CT scan revealed an apple-sized brain tumour. Her surgery, which was delayed so that Elaine could attend her son Peter’s wedding, took place on 16th September. During the four-hour craniotomy, surgeons noticed the tumour had spread to both hemispheres of her brain.
Immediately after surgery, Elaine suffered a bleed on the brain which caused her to have a stroke and she was rushed back into theatre, where surgeons removed the remaining tumour, unavoidably taking with it many healthy cells.
Heidi said: “What happened to my mum didn’t seem fair and I want to be able to put my mind to something positive.
“Research on this type of cancer is extremely difficult. Only 25% of glioblastoma patients survive more than one year and 5% of patients survive more than five years. More research is desperately needed to understand this illness better – there is currently very little understanding of the disease, no understanding of the cause and minimal treatment options available to those afflicted.”
Heidi has already raised nearly £4,000 on her JustGiving page and hopes to raise enough to sponsor two days of research at one of our Centres of Excellence. You can support her fundraising by donating here.