Pupils at Southdown Primary School in Buckley, Flintshire, dug out their favourite hats on the last day of term and raised more than £300 in memory of their classmate Aaron Wharton who died of a brain tumour last year.
Just 10 days before he died on 9th April 2023, Aaron took part in the school’s Wear A Hat Day celebrations. He wore a spectacular red top hat, which he and his mum, Nicola (pictured above with Aaron’s friends), had crafted and decorated specially for the occasion. This week, Nicola wore Aaron’s top hat as she paid his classmates a visit and unveiled a plaque dedicated to Aaron on a special bench.
Aaron (pictured below in his homemade top hat) was diagnosed with a grade 3 anaplastic ependymoma when he was just four in April 2020 and underwent four brain surgeries, as well as gruelling chemotherapy and radiotherapy. But despite all the treatment, the brain tumour grew back and spread. Nicola and husband Lee were told that Aaron had run out of treatment options and to go home and make memories.
Nicola, who set up Aaron’s Army, a Fundraising Group for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Nothing prepares you for losing your child. He was robbed of his life and from being with us. It’s unbelievable that with all the advancements in so many other cancers there is so little available for those diagnosed with brain tumours and especially children. Aaron was so full of life but was lost to the cruellest of diseases.”
Although it’s Wear A Hat Day today – you can still join in. Take a selfie wearing a hat, make a donation and share on your social media platforms, inviting your friends to do the same.
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