A woman from Nuneaton has completed the London Marathon with a time of 7.18 to raise funds to help scientists find a cure for the disease which took her mother, also from Nuneaton.

Jennifer White, 37, of Quantock Drive, who works for building merchants Taylor Maxwell, last year had to pull out of the London Marathon due to injury while training. She was inspired to take on the marathon challenge having lost her mother Kathy Bridge just four months after she was diagnosed, following a seizure. Kathy was 62 when she passed away and had helped many children in the town learn to read during her 16 years as a teaching assistant at St Paul’s C of E Primary School until she became ill.

Now, Jenny has raised more than £4,300 for the pioneering charity Brain Tumour Research which will help fund research within its Centres of Excellence where scientists are focused on improving outcomes for patients and, ultimately, finding a cure. She is hoping that her final total will be £5,480 – enough to fund two days of research.

Jenny said: “I have seen first-hand the devastation this disease causes to families. Mum was diagnosed with an aggressive and incurable glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour (GBM), which is sadly the most common type. It was such a shock to us to hear that there was no cure and that any treatment would just give us a bit of extra time with Mum. In the end we only had four very short months.

“For obvious reasons, raising funds for research into brain tumours is a cause very close to my heart. I am not a runner – in fact I hate it – but I have managed to get from not being able to run to the end of the road to running 26 miles. I hope that my marathon effort will also help to raise awareness of the shocking statistics around this disease.

“Yesterday was the hardest day of my life, apart from Mum’s illness and passing. Hot, hard, horrible… yet beautiful, awe-inspiring and magnificent. I feel privileged to have been part of it.”

Jenny was among 40,000 runners taking part in the event which was started by The Queen from the grounds of Windsor Castle and relayed to big screens at the start line in Blackheath. It was the 38^th London Marathon to take place since the first on 29^th March 1981.

Michael Thelwall, Head of Community Fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Jenny’s determination and commitment are fantastic and I hope her story will provide inspiration to others whose lives have been affected by a brain tumour.

“Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer – and more men under 45 than prostate cancer – yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

“For too long, brain tumours have been a neglected cancer. Experiences like Kathy’s remind us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue. We are extremely grateful to Jenny and offer our congratulations to everyone who took part in this year’s event to raise money for charity.”

Make a donation to Brain Tumour Research via Jenny’s JustGiving page.

For further information, please contact:
Liz Fussey at Brain Tumour Research on 07811 068357 or liz@braintumourresearch.org

Notes to Editors

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK focused on funding sustainable research to find a cure for brain tumours. We have established a game-changing network of world-class Research Centres of Excellence in the UK. Embracing passionate member charities nationwide, over £6 million was raised towards research and support during 2017.

We are campaigning to see the national spend on research into brain tumours increased to £30 - £35 million a year, in line with breast cancer and leukaemia. The unprecedented success of our 2015 petition led to the 2016 Westminster Hall debate and Brain Tumour Research taking a leading role in the Government’s Task and Finish Working Group convened to tackle the historic underfunding for research with the report published in February 2018.

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• They kill more men under 45 than prostate cancer
• They kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease
• In the UK 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers
• Incidences of, and deaths from, brain tumours are increasing.

Please quote Brain Tumour Research as the source when using this information. Additional facts and statistics are available from our website including our latest Report on National Research Funding. We can also provide case-studies and research expertise for media.