Family raises £250K for hospital after teenage daughter died from brain tumour

King’s College Hospital has reached a significant milestone of donations for help with vital research into brain tumours in children and young adults.

A total of £250,000 has now been raised over time by the family of a young patient who sadly lost her battle against an aggressive brain tumour.

Charlotte Eades was 16 when she was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing and rare form of brain cancer.

During her illness, Charlotte fought to raise awareness of cancer in young people and kept a video blog to document her life with the condition.

Charlotte along with her mother and brother – Alex and Miles – established the charity Charlotte’s BAG, which stands for Charlotte’s Battle Against Glioblastoma, and also a nod to her love of handbags.

The charity raises money for research into the condition to help other children, teenagers and young adults with the condition.

Charlotte, who was from Brighton, was just 19 when she died in 2016, but fundraising continued and the amount the charity has donated has reached a quarter of a million pounds.

The money has been spent developing a laboratory, employing a scientist in neuropathology to help with whole genome sequencing of children with brain tumours, and helping establish liquid biopsies, which uses blood and cerebrospinal fluid to inform clinicians about the nature of a tumour rather than taking a traditional biopsy.

Professor Safa Al-Sarraj, Head of Clinical Neuropathology at King’s, said, “The donation from Charlotte BAG has helped us introduce genetic tests and significantly improved the way in which we diagnose children with brain tumours.

“We are now working to introduce the new technique of cell-free DNA analysis on patients with brain tumours, which will not only further improve diagnoses but also guide clinical teams on the best way to manage the condition.”

To commemorate the awareness-raising carried out by Charlotte, and the fundraising carried forward by her family, a new clinical and research role at King’s has been named in her honour.

The Charlotte Eades Academic and Clinical Fellowship in Neurosurgery has been established to focus on brain and spine tumours on children and young adults.

King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill provides care to 1.5 million patients in Southwark, Lambeth, Bromley, Bexley and Lewisham.

Pictured top: King’s College Hospital (Picture: King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)