Cycling 100 miles for Brainstrust

To help drum up support, my brother Darren is cycling 100 miles to help raise money for Brainstrust.  He hopes to raise £1000 which will go towards a required £200k target to help one of his friends mum get much needed treatment in the US for a brain tumour (currently unavailable on the NHS or privately in the UK).

Here’s a little more about their story:

“In August last year our lovely Mum was diagnosed with a very aggressive grade IV brain cancer called a Glioblastoma.

Mum has bravely completed six weeks of intensive radio and chemotherapy and is currently undergoing a further six months of chemo. Unfortunately, without new drugs (currently not available through either the NHS or private healthcare), the tumour will reappear as traditional treatments have not been able to eradicate this form of cancer in patients so far.

There is however, a cutting edge immunotherapy treatment called DCVax being developed that has had very encouraging results. This treatment involves creating a vaccine from the patient’s tumour, which in turn helps their immune system to attack the cancer. We believe this is Mum’s best chance of the most positive outcome and as such, we are desperate to make it happen.

Initial treatment will have to be undertaken in the U.S, following which all subsequent treatment can be administered from UCL in London. To put the whole enterprise into financial perspective, the drug comes at a hefty cost in excess of £200,000, however, encouragingly, the first treatment can begin once fundraising has reached £50,000.

Our target is to raise £100,000 from the Brainwave 100 cycling event after which we intend to run further fundraising initiatives. One of which will include the sale of silk neck ties through an online clothing company ‘Gooseberry Fool’, that we aim to launch in April, with 100% of all profits going towards Mum’s medical care.

We have chosen to partner with Brainstrust, a UK brain tumour charity, dedicated to helping people affected by a brain tumour by improving clinical care and providing co-ordinated support in their search for treatment. They have kindly agreed to provide ongoing advice and support, with the trustees maintaining overall responsibility for the management of funds donated, to ensure their use for the care of Anna Horrell.

Our family wholeheartedly believes this is the best option for Mum, so please support us by donating towards what we hope will be lifesaving treatment.

Thank you for your support!
The Horrells.

If you’re able to help support Darren and The Horrells in acheiving their massive target, you can do so on the Darren Sheffield Just Giving Page.