In March 2021 my worst nightmare came true when my son Zac, who was 3 at the time, was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of brain tumour, an Embryonal tumour with Multilayered Rosettes (ETMR).

After the initial diagnosis, Zac went through 3 major brain surgeries at Kings College hospital to remove the tumour, six weeks of proton beam therapy at The Christie in Manchester and then 4 rounds of high dose chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden in Sutton with a view to curing him of this terrible disease.

After the intensive treatments which Zac went through, on New Years Eve 2021 my wife and I were informed by Zac’s oncologist that the tumours had returned. After discussing the next best form of treatment for Zac we agreed to Zac trying a different form of Chemotherapy treatment to help slow down the growth of the tumour. Unfortunately the treatment had no effect on the growth of the tumour, and my wife and I made the decision that no parent should have to make and that was to stop treatment.

Zac passed away in our arms on the 12 April 2022 aged 4.

No mother, father, brother or sister should ever have to endure what Zac and so many other people across the world go through because of the evil disease that a brain tumour is. After witnessing the amazing work that the NHS does I cannot thank them enough for their tireless work throughout our Zac’s treatments but it is evidently clear that there is a lack of research available to help avoid people having to go through what Zac did.

To help raise funds for The Brain Tumour Charity to help vital research into finding a cure, I have entered and will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October 2023 and the TCS London Marathon in April 2024. My fund raising target is to cover both the Royal Parks half Marathon and the TCS London Marathon.

I would be forever grateful if you could donate to my fund for the Brain Tumour Charity to provide more hope for families like ours in the future. 

Luke Staples

The Brain Tumour Charity is the world's leading brain tumour charity and the largest dedicated funder of research into brain tumours globally. Committed to saving and improving lives, we're moving further, faster to help every single person affected by a brain tumour.

We're set on finding new treatments, offering the highest level of support and driving urgent change. And we're doing it right now. Because we understand that when you, or someone you love, is diagnosed with a brain tumour a cure really can't wait.