Barnoldswick woman backs brain tumour action event in memory of her dad (From Burnley and Pendle Citizen)
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Barnoldswick woman backs brain tumour action event in memory of her dad
2:46pm Monday 11th March 2013 in News
By Dan Clough, Reporter
Rachel Wilson at the event and (inset) dad Andrew
THE daughter of a former councillor who died from a brain tumour will promote awareness of the disease by heading to Parliament tomorrow.
Rachel Wilson, of Barnoldswick, will go to Westminster to attend an event highlighting Brain Tumour Awareness month and promote Wear A Hat Day, which takes place on March 28.
Miss Wilson has been promoting the issue since her father, former Foulridge milkman and councillor Andrew Wilson, died in 2011, just four months after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
Nationally, less than one per cent of all the funds raised for research into cancer is devoted to brain tumour research, yet the condition is the biggest killer of children and more people under the age of 40 die from brain tumours than from any other cancer. Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson has also pledged his support for Miss Wilson and will attend the event alongside her.
The event, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Brain Tumours and national charity Brain Tumour Research, will bring together patients, charities, clinicians and MPs with expert speakers.
Miss Wilson, office manager for Brain Tumour Research and Support in Leeds, said: “I am very grateful to Brain Tumour Research and the All-Party Brain Tumour Group for organising this event, and the continued work they do to increase brain tumour awareness.
“We are taking our manifesto to Parliament calling for a better system of early warning for brain tumours.
“Brain cancer is difficult to detect but we want GPs to be more aware of the symptoms.
“For instance, my dad played in a band and one night he couldn’t remember a song, but when he told his GP they didn’t pick it up at first.
“They try to find other causes first. In the end dad only had four months and if we had known earlier that he would only have that much time we might have done things a bit differently.”
Miss Wilson said she wanted Brain Cancer Awareness month and Wear A Hat Day to become major annual events.
She said: “We have got Tickled Pink for Breast Cancer and I want March 28 to be known as Wear A Hat Day on a large scale.”
