As many of you know, our mum, Carol, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2018.. The type of tumour she has is called a Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which is a highly aggressive form of cancer.

This news has been a huge shock to the whole family. Mum has always been super fit and healthy, so to be diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour was devastating.

However, she had the tumour successfully resected and is under a fantastic oncology team at Guys Cancer Centre. She has been undergoing surgery and chemoradiotherapy this year, which she has tolerated well so far. The type of tumour she has has 'methylated cells' which means it should respond better to chemotherapy.

Apart from the visual disturbance which was her first initial symptom, she is doing very well. She remains positive and never complains about anything. She is a real inspiration to a lot of people.

Mum has always been a very caring, sweet, warm person, with a great sense of humour and is loved by everyone. It is really hard for us to watch her go through something so life changing. Since her diagnosis, we have come to realise how severely underfunded brain tumour research is. Other cancer charities receive far more funding, and this just isn't fair.

Brain tumours can happen to anyone at any age. A high number of children and young people develop brain tumours. But there is definitely a lack of awareness around them and the devastating effects they can have on a person and their families.

We have decided to run the 2019 London Marathon for the Carol Hayes Fund, as part of Brain Tumour Research. This will be a huge challenge for us, but we are very determined and will train very hard. We want to raise as much money as we can in support of the charity and our lovely mum. We can use all the support we can get! We will be keeping you all updated over the coming months of our progress. Thank you so much for your support! :)

Gemma and James x

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