Josh's Team Marsden Fund
Organised by The Royal Marsden Cancer CharityRaising funds for The Teenage Unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, in loving memory of Joshua Bray.
Story
In June 2017, Josh fell ill and was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia. After initially being treated in our local hospital, his care was transferred to the Teenage and Young Adult ward (TYA) at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton.
As soon we arrived, all the staff were incredible; from the fantastic nurses and doctors, to the catering team, the health care assistants, porters, and all other staff. This helped us all feel more relaxed at a difficult time knowing that Josh was in such great hands.
4 rounds of chemotherapy later and Josh came home, cancer free and back to normal (all be it with slightly less hair!). Unfortunately, not even a year later, we found out through a routine blood test at The Marsden that Josh had relapsed and the leukaemia had come back. By this point The Royal Marsden had become a 'home from home' to all of us so, although we were heartbroken that the cancer had returned, we knew he would be in the safe hands of all of our lovely nurses.
On the 14th of December 2018, after 2 rounds of chemotherapy and a course of radiotherapy, Josh had his stem cell transplant to try to prevent the leukaemia coming back. We spent Christmas and New Year at the Marsden that year, and made the most of it in a place we felt comfortable, with the nurses now feeling like family. Again he returned home cancer free, and again all the team at The Marsden were fantastic, and we couldn’t have asked for more.
Towards the end of 2019, Josh relapsed again and started chemotherapy for a 3rd time. In December 2019, a week before Christmas, we received the devastating news that the chemotherapy was not working and there was nothing more we could do. Josh continued to receive care from the Marsden, and they provided us all with support at this awful time.
On 30th August 2020, Josh passed away on the Teenage and Young Adult unit at The Royal Marsden, surrounded by his family.
We will always be grateful for the medical and pastoral care Josh received. The TYA at the Royal Marsden is a fantastic space for teenagers and young adults, and helps provide the care and support that they need at a difficult time.
Our aim has always been to create a lasting legacy for Josh, and something that he would have believed in and been proud of.
So far with the money we have raised, we have been able to fund an additional day, “Josh's Day”, for the Transplant Clinical Nurse Specialist on the TYA, which is dedicated to non-clinical tasks as a non-office based day. This allows them to spend more time with the patients and their families, strengthening their relationships, being able to answer questions, and providing the support that is much needed. The relationships Josh built with the nurses and the support he received was incredible and so important to him: we are so pleased to have the opportunity to support other patients in receiving this, in Josh’s honour. Thank you for your support in making this happen.
With the remaining money we have raised so far, and any future donations and fundraising, we are proposing to support the Marsden in opening a teenage ambulatory unit, on the TYA at The Royal Marsden in Sutton. While Josh was an outpatient at The Marsden, he was treated on the children’s ward. If this project was to go ahead, it would allow teenage and young adult patients to receive care on the TYA, with nurses they know, and other patients and families they have formed friendships and connections with, in an environment which is more suited to them.