Today our thoughts are with the family of John Lilley as they mark a year since they lost him on 7th May 2023, aged 61.
John was “the best dad” and spent 40 years, 38 years of those as a married couple, with his sweetheart Alison who he met when she was 18 and he was 19.
His plan was to retire at the age of 60 and go on a world cruise with Alison. Instead John was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) after having a seizure in July 2019, which was at first thought to be a stroke. He had standard of care surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but in July 2021 the tumour was found to be back. Despite further treatment, there was more progression and John died at home, being cared for by Alison, as well as daughter Charlotte and son Daniel.
Whilst undergoing treatment, John wrote a blog about his brain tumour journey which included the following thoughts: “We have seen in a generation, the prognosis for patients with breast cancer and leukaemia turned on its head from investment in research, but we haven’t seen that for brain tumour patients. It’s clear that more needs to be done for people like me who are diagnosed with this devastating disease to bring hope, rather than despair, to our loved ones.”
We are grateful to John’s family for setting up the Fundraising Group John’s Crew as a legacy and to bring hope to future patients.
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