Mum’s Walk of Hope for five-year-old son who died from brain tumour

A woman from Rochdale is taking on a Walk of Hope in support of her young son who died from a brain tumour.

On Saturday 24 September, Fauzia Ashraf, 33, will do the five-km Walk of Hope through Woodbank Park in Stockport to raise money for the charity Brain Tumour Research. It’s after her son, Saqib Ahmed, died from a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) brain tumour in October 2021.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours.

Fauzia, who is also mum to Aqib, eight, and Atif who is nearly one, first realised something was wrong in July 2021 when the normally happy and healthy Saqib started getting headaches.

She said: “They would last no more than five minutes, he would cry, and then he would be OK again. I took Saqib to the GP who said he was fine, but then he started to have a teething dribble which I thought was odd.

“Then in August, Saqib started shuffling down the stairs on his bottom which was really odd. When I asked him why he was doing that, he said he just wanted to sit. I just knew that something wasn’t right.”

Fauzia, who was 35 weeks pregnant with Atif, took Saqib to the optician and was told he needed glasses. When he got them, he didn’t get a headache for four days, but on 12 August he complained that his head hurt.

 

 

Fauzia, a secondary school history teacher, said: “I took him to the GP again and said I wasn’t going to leave until Saqib got a scan. The GP reluctantly referred me to Oldham Royal Hospital where Saqib had a CT scan.

“They told me that Saqib had a cancerous tumour in his head. I was in such shock and thought ‘how can he have a brain tumour? He looks fine and he’s playing’.

“From that moment, it felt like my life ended and I just broke down.”

On 16 August 2021, Saqib had an MRI scan at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. The oncologist told Fauzia that Saqib had a DIPG and there was no cure and no treatment for it because the tumour was on his brainstem.

Fauzia said: “I’ll never forget the oncologist telling me that no child has ever survived a DIPG. He said it will take away all of his functions until it eventually takes away his breath. I could hear him, but I couldn’t comprehend anything he was saying.

“The next day, Saqib wouldn’t wake up. When he came to, he wasn’t talking, and he couldn’t get off the bed. It was all too much.”

Saqib celebrated his fifth birthday on 19 September and his family celebrated with him in the hospital. Fauzia’s due date was 17 September, but she didn’t want to be induced because of Saqib’s birthday. She was induced the following day, 20 September, and she gave birth to baby Atif on 21 September.

She said: “Four hours after giving birth, I wanted to see Saqib, so I took Atif to see his older brother. Saqib was so happy when he saw the baby and I have a lovely photo of them together.

“The following day, he really started to deteriorate. He wasn’t happy at all; we could see he was dying.”

On 4 October 2021, Saqib died peacefully with his loving family by his side.

Fauzia said: “I still live most of my life not believing it. We have a massive black hole in our lives. Everything happened so quickly, and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer boy. Saqib was so happy and excited to be a big brother.”

Now, Fauzia and her family will take on the five-km Walk of Hope through Woodbank Park in Stockport to raise money for Brain Tumour Research.

She said: “I want to raise at least £274 which is 10% of the cost to fund one day of brain tumour research. Research will lead to cures, it will help children, and it will help the next family that sadly receives this awful diagnosis.”

 

 

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: “This is a beautiful walk, and I would encourage anyone who is able to take part to do so. Not only is it a great social event in the outdoors but fundraising for it is a great way to support the work we do.

“We’re really grateful to Fauzia for taking part in the Walk of Hope, as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Saqib who are forced to fight this awful disease.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.

The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.

To donate to Fauzia’s JustGiving page, visit:

• justgiving.com/fundraising/fauzia-ashraf?utm_s

To find out more about this Walk of Hope, or to register to take part, visit:

• braintumourresearch.org/fundraise/chesire-walk-of-hope