This is local Luton girl Amani. A daughter of one of our Revolution Women's group.

She had just graduated with a first class Law degree in July 2019 and begun her Masters in Social Work. Her education plans were on track. She was also due to get married. Venues were booked and she was in the process of purchasing her first house just moments down the road from her parents house. Life seemed good until disaster struck.

On her 22nd birthday in April 2020 Amani collapsed at home with a massive seizure. She was blue lit by ambulance to her local hospital. Her family couldn't be by her side due to the COVID lockdown . Just hours later they received the devastating news that Amani had a brain tumour. Rushed to a London hospital for a biopsy days later and still by herself even worse news followed. Her tumour was the worst brain cancer possible, Glioblastoma, the worst mutation possible, the worst position on the brain stem and was the most resistant to treatment. At the age of 22 she was given the devastating prognosis of just 12-18 months left to live. Her family went from planning her wedding to thoughts of their daughter's funeral.

But they all fought as best they could to save their daughter. And Amani fought as best as she could to fight against not only the brain cancer raging inside her intelligent brain but the injustice of the lack of funding for research into brain cancer. Because of the lack of funding there were no effective treatments for her brain cancer. Because of the lack of investment treatments hadn't changed in decades. Patients like Amani usually have to endure a gruelling 6 weeks radiotherapy to their brain followed by 1 year of harrowing chemo. Amani only managed the 6 weeks of radiotherapy because nothing worked on her tumour. Her tumour just kept growing. Left untreated her tumour would have killed her in just 3 short months. So when the family ran out of options under the NHS in 8 short weeks of treatment the family had to turn to Europe to purchase private treatments. Thes trial drugs were hugely expensive but bought Amani maybe an extra year of life which she wouldn't have got under the NHS.

Amani loved her final year with purpose. She campaigned against the lack of funding for research into brain cancer. She knew it was too late for her but she wanted to make a change for others. But the reality is, if more had been done decades ago, Amani could still be with us today.

In Sept 2021, when Amani was already in her final decline, she set up Luton's first ever Walk of Hope and raised just over £13,000 for charity, Brain Tumour Research. She bravely addressed the crowd that day about how the lack of funding and posed the question 'Does my life not matter?'

But Amani's life did matter and will always matter. Luton's Walk of Hope is now an annual event which is now sadly continued by her family in Amani's memory. She passed on 21 Feb 2022 at just 23yrs old and on her sisters 21st birthday. Luton's Walk of Hope has continued every year and raised over £60,000 to fund research into Glioblastoma.

Brain cancer is the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40. More needs to be done. Together we can find a cure.

Please donate and support our efforts as we Walk for Hope for a better future for brain cancer patients. Monies raised will fund life-saving research at our Centres of Excellence in London and bring much-needed hope to brain tumour patients and their families.

Will you step forward in 2025 to help find a cure?