A BEREAVED Rugby family is ‘outraged’ at a government spending drop in brain tumour research.
The Realf family from Rugby have voiced their anger in Westminster after new figures revealed a sharp decrease in research funding to combat brain cancer.
New stats from the National Cancer Research Institute show the total national spend on brain tumour research decreased to just 1.37 per cent of all cancer research last year.
Stephen Realf, from Rugby, was just 26 when he died of a brain tumour in 2014, and over the last year his family have been at the forefront of a campaign to raise awareness of the disease – the nation’s biggest cancer killer of people under 40.
Stephen’s father Peter and sister Maria Lester were among patients, carers, activists, charities and politicians who attended the All Party Parliamentary Group on brain tumours.
Together they launched an online petition on the first anniversary of Stephen’s death to call for the government to increase funding allocated to brain tumour research. The petition quickly gathered more than 100,000 signatures and prompted a House of Commons Petitions Committee inquiry into the current state of national funding.
Speaking at the meeting, Peter said: “We are here today, in the Palace of Westminster at a historic time, and perhaps it is appropriate that we are gathered here at this very moment on a day when a new Prime Minister takes up residence at 10 Downing Street.
“If swift and measurable progress is not made in rectifying the decades of neglect and research under-funding, the brain tumour community will soon be knocking loudly on that famous door.”
As the second anniversary of Stephen’s death approaches, the Realf family said they were even more determined to continue to help other families who were touched by the disease.
Peter added: “We are encouraged by the process to date and grateful for the support of everyone who gave evidence at the inquiry and to all those who signed the petition.
“The pain of losing our son will never go away but we will continue to campaign in order to prevent others from experiencing the devastation and despair which a brain tumour diagnosis brings.
Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of the charity Brain Tumour Research, said: “It was an incredible milestone for the brain tumour community to shine a light on this issue with the unprecedented success of the original e-petition, the Petitions Committee report and subsequent Parliamentary debate.
“But we can’t stop there. We look forward to playing a key role in the Government’s Task and Finish working group to drive the Petition’s Committee’s recommendations forward.”
