A mother from Buckinghamshire will jump out of a plane this week in memory of her 14-year-old daughter who was killed by brain cancer.
Rebecca Gaskell, who lives in Buckinghamshire, is one of a group of mothers who are set to take part in a charity skydive on Saturday, October 14, in memory of their children who died from brain tumours.
The eight women, who call themselves ‘angel mums’, were “brought together by their grief” and are also united by a “terror” of heights that they are nonetheless spurred to face by the need to “make a change” to the treatment and research of brain cancer in children.
Rebecca is jumping in memory of her daughter, Grace, who passed away at age 14 from an AA3/Glioblastoma tumour, the most aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.
The ‘angel mums’ are planning to donate their fundraising target of £10,000 to the Tessa Jowell Foundation, a charity founded in memory of Tessa Jowell MP who died from a brain tumour in 2018 and which aims to transform treatment and care for NHS brain cancer patients.
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A spokesperson for the group said: “We are spurred on because we’ve seen our children so bravely face surgeries, chemo, radiotherapy, painful immunotherapy, countless drugs, MRIs and needles. Can you imagine having to watch your child go through all of this knowing that it would only prolong, and not save their life?
“The journey and treatment plans for these tumours mostly have not changed for decades, and not enough is being done to raise money for research. Historically, only 1% of government cancer research funding is spent on brain tumours – this is a devastating statistic.
“When each of our children was diagnosed with their brain tumour, there simply wasn’t hope for them and lots of our children were given a 0% chance of survival which is just heart-breaking.
“We wouldn’t wish how we are feeling now on any other families, and so we are determined to raise as much money as possible to enable The Tessa Jowell Foundation to continue their truly ground-breaking work.”
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