On Valentine’s Day 2018, I had a visit from our friend, Mark Bramall, hand-delivering a Valentine’s Card to our son George (aged 9) from his daughter Lizzie (also aged 9)... with the earth-shattering news that just a few days before, beautiful  Lizzie had been diagnosed with a catastrophic inoperable brain tumour of the brainstem (DIPG - Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma).  DIPG affects around 25 children in the UK each year, with an average life expectancy from diagnosis of just 9 months.

Indeed, just 9 short months later, on 15th November 2018, Lizzie tragically lost her battle to this brutal disease.  She died in her parents' arms... a week before her 10th Birthday.

Lizzie's legacy of resilience, hope and kindness will never be forgotten. In truth, it will continue to grow as her inspirational parents, Sally and Mark, strive to raise funds to help facilitate essential research into childhood brain tumours via The Brain Tumour Charity because a cure simply can't wait.  

In memory of this special little girl and in the hope that we can help prevent another family from enduring such a tragedy, I am participating in the Thames Path Challenge in September with Lizzie’s mother Sally, her aunt Emma and their friend Louise.  We will be walking 50km (approx. 31 miles) from Runnymede to Henley. This may sound like a lovely afternoon's stroll by the river, but the training walks of approximately 16km I have been doing recently have been exhausting enough and I am no athlete.  We anticipate that we will be walking for about 11 hours.

Lizzie’s Fund is targeted to support research into childhood brain tumours. Lizzie bravely supported research every day through her participation in trials. Her family and friends are committed to ensuring that Lizzie’s Fund will provide the critical funds required to find a cure for brain tumours and thank everyone in advance for donating and supporting our battle against one of the most devastating of childhood cancers.

Many thanks.  Katie Romer-Lee