In Our Hearts

We are grateful to Aria who worked with us in October 2020 to share his story here. Sadly, he passed away on 8th February 2021. We remember Aria as we continue our work to raise awareness of this devastating disease and to fund research to help find a cure. He will be forever in our hearts.

In November 2018, paediatric trainee doctor Aria Nikjooy was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, sitting in his cerebellum. Aged just 27, he was operated on, treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy and thankfully the tumour was kept at bay. Then, in March 2020, the same brain tumour came back and he had a second brain surgery. Devastatingly, a second recurrence came in July 2020 resulting in another brain operation and more cancer treatment. As part of his recovery and rehabilitation, Aria turned to writing. This culminated in him writing a children’s fiction book to help to explain the complex issues surrounding illness and cancer to his little boy.

Father-of-three Asmat Chaudry was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in April 2013 after suffering a seizure at home and losing feeling in his left side. He had been experiencing some forgetfulness in the weeks prior but was otherwise a fit and active 74-year-old. He underwent brain surgery and radiotherapy but died 15 months later, during the most sacred days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Atif was a loving father and husband and at the pinnacle of his career at a prestigious London law firm when he was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour, dying two years later. Now his wife finds comfort in the fact that Atif has left his legacy in both of their daughters.

We are grateful to Baljit and his daughter, Simran, who worked with us in July 2022 to share his story here. Sadly, he passed away in March 2023. We remember Baljit as we continue our work to raise awareness of this devastating disease and to fund research to help find a cure. He will be forever in our hearts.

Baljit Mehat, a successful businessman and father-of four from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2021 after becoming shaky and confused on his way to a football match. The 58-year-old underwent a craniotomy in November and a biopsy revealed that his tumour is a grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In January he started taking a drug called AZD1390 in combination with radiotherapy as part of a clinical trial. 

When respected Bermondsey undertaker and family man, Barry Albin-Dyer OBE, started seeing zig zags in front of his eyes, he could not have guessed that a scan would reveal a very aggressive brain tumour near his optical nerve. Determined to survive and be a “Bermondsey boy for years to come”, he underwent gruelling treatments, documented his battle in his blog, and sadly died less than two years later.           

“Barry, being Barry, was determined to keep going in to work every day he could. “I’ve got to keep on going,” he would declare, “or I’m a dead man.” Barry had a strong will and a strong Catholic faith, and two those things helped him get through it. He never wanted the cancer to take him over and stop him doing the things he loved. I’ve always thought that was what kept him alive for as long as he was.”