Rushden woman raising awareness of brain tumours after losing three family members to the disease

A Rushden woman who lost her mother, uncle and grandmother to aggressive brain tumours is now campaigning for more investment to find a cure for the disease.

Tracey Jenkins is campaigning with the charity Brain Tumour Research to help reach 100,000 signatures on a petition that is urging the government to increase research funding for the condition.

She said: “Mum’s deterioration was awful and happened so quickly – there was no time to prepare.

"We kept her at home for as long as possible, but she needed 24-hour care so eventually she ended up in a hospice.

"Sadly, we lost her as a person months before she passed away.

“I’d want to end my life straight away if I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I wouldn’t want to suffer like my relatives and I wouldn’t want my family to suffer.

"It was quite horrific what we had to deal with when my mum was diagnosed."

According to Brain Tumour Research, the condition kills more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, and in the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Fewer than 12 per cent of those diagnosed survive beyond five years compared with an average of 54 per cent across all cancers. This is despite just one per cent of the national spend on research being allocated to combatting brain tumours since records began in 2002.

Tracey added: “It’s like dementia, you lose your loved one during the process and when they die you feel relief because by then all they are is a being, not a person.

“I’ve been to the GP surgery because I am so worried about getting a brain tumour because of my family history, but they just don’t seem to take my concerns seriously.”

The charity recognises research as a critical priority and says this increase in research investment would put brain tumours in line with the spend on cancers of the breast, bowel and lung, as well as leukaemia.

Brain Tumour Research is asking for the Government to ring-fence £110m of current and new funding to increase the national investment in brain tumour research to £35m a year by 2028.

Dr Karen Noble, director of research, policy and innovation at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are grateful to Tracey for supporting our petition and helping to raise awareness.

“Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age.

"To have three diagnoses in the same family is an extremely rare occurrence.

"If we are to change the stark facts around survival of this disease, then we simply must invest more into discovery science – the route to a cure.

“For too long governments have put brain tumours on the ‘too difficult to think about’ pile.

“If everyone can spare just a few minutes to sign and share, we will soon hit the 100,000 signatures we need and help find a cure, bringing hope to families whose loved ones have been affected by brain tumours.”

The petition from Brain Tumour Research can be found here.