An Ealing woman who lost her husband to a brain tumour is the driving force behind a new research centre opening this Thursday (September 24).
Wendy Fulcher, 63, lost John, her husband of 16 years, to an aggressive glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour in 2001.
After his death she dedicated herself to raising money to enable Kevin O’Neill, the consultant neurosurgeon who treated him at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s Charing Cross Hospital, to build a research team to fight the disease.
Mr O’Neill will lead the centre which is the result of a ground-breaking partnership between Brain Tumour Research and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London) and means the charity is more than half-way towards its aim of creating a network of seven dedicated Centres of Excellence.
Wendy said: “My husband was 52 when he was taken from me just 10 months after his diagnosis. His consultant neurosurgeon Kevin O’Neill and his team were with us all the way. I am proud to say that this new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence is, in part, John’s legacy.
“It would not have happened without John and neither would it have happened without the dedication of Kevin and his team.”
While existing centres are led by neuroscientists, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust’s is the first in the charity’s network to be headed up by a pioneering brain surgeon.
Earlier this year Mr O’Neill was part of a team who used an ‘intelligent’ knife (iKnife) to diagnose abnormal tissue during an operation to remove a brain tumour – the first time it had been used in Europe.
“I continue to be astounded by the courage of patients and their families, none more so than in the case of Wendy who, in her grief, has found great depths of drive and determination to ensure our work has a future. We must fight this disease until we have a cure and we remain committed to doing all we can to improve outcomes for our patients,” he said.
“I am delighted to be working with Brain Tumour Research to help push forward scientific frontiers to bring us closer to a cure.”
The centre joins Queen Mary University of London, and centres at universities in Portsmouth and Plymouth, to become the fourth funded by Brain Tumour Research.
“This new centre brings a welcome and timely boost to long-term sustainable and continuous research into brain tumours,” said Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research.
She pledged to continue the work of the charity on behalf of the 16,000 people who are diagnosed with brain tumour every year.
She added: “Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research is allocated to this devastating disease. This is unacceptable!”
Also attending the event is artist and author Marion Coutts, who will read an extract from The Iceberg, her award-winning memoir about the diagnosis, illness and death of her husband, art critic Tom Lubbock, who died of a brain tumour in January 2011.
The centre will receive £1.3m from the two charities over the next three years. The research and fundraising partnership between Brain Tumour Research and the Trust aims to raise £1 million a year towards new studies.
To donate £5 to Brain Tumour Research, text RSCH01 £5 to 70070.
Visit www.braintumourresearch.org for information
