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In September 2018 we are going to stage a charity cycle ride from
Barnstaple, in Devon (South West England) to Lyon in France, a distance of approximately 700 miles.
The ride is to raise money for and awareness of Brain Tumour charities.
This is our story…
In 2014 our daughter went to France on a school French exchange and was fortunate enough to stay with a lovely family in Lyon. Over the next couple of years Chloe and Agathe built a good friendship visiting each other every year. Unfortunately during this time, Agathe had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. Worse news was to come when her family were told it was cancerous.
In November 2016, only months after finding out this sad news, our world was momentarily turned upside down when our daughter
was also diagnosed with a tumorous growth in her skull. The next month was a living nightmare. We didn’t know what was going to happen next and suddenly the future looked uncertain. We had looked after our beautiful loving girl for 17 years without so much as a broken bone....
Exactly a month later on 16th December, in Derriford Hospital Plymouth, the tumour was removed from Chloe’s skull. The surgery went well and unbelievably she came home in just three days! We were so very lucky – Chloe recovered well and then on Christmas Eve, we got the best Christmas present ever – her surgeon rang to tell us that the tumour was benign.
However, in May this year, we received some very very sad news. After several trips to hospital and chemotherapy, Chloe's friend Agathe had passed away. She was only 16. We were all devastated. Agathe was such a lovely, funny, beautiful girl. She should have had a bright future to look forward to.
Brain tumours kill more children and young adults than any other cancer. There are 140 different types of brain tumour. Thankfully not all are cancerous, but they can still be devastating and life changing.
Chloe’s friend Lauren has Tubular Sclerosis. T.S. is a genetic disorder which causes Tumours to grow in various parts of the body and can cause people to have epilepsy and learning difficulties to varying degrees. It's estimated that around 1 in every 6,000 babies are born with this condition.
Lauren has tumours in her brain, kidneys and lungs and has other side effects of the condition such as her T.S. facial rash. She also has some learning difficulties which impact on her social skills.
Lauren has suffered with epilepsy from a young age requiring her to take medication 3 times a day in an attempt to control her seizures. She also under went lifesaving brain surgery at the age of 10 to remove one of her tumours and earlier this year had lifesaving surgery on her kidney. This has been a lot for Lauren to cope with but despite this she remains positive and sets herself new challenges. She loves to run and even undertook a charity skydive in October 2016.
Lauren is hoping to go onto a drug soon which is new to the treatment of Tuberous Sclerosis, but fundraising remains vital to understand the condition and conduct research into how to treat or prevent the
condition in the future.
Please help us raise vital funds for research and the continual support that these charities give to so many. Thank you x
