Unite for Steve: A Sponsored Walk to Support Life, Hope, and Raise Awareness of Brain Cancer Research

18th January 2024

Dearest Palmers Green Community,

In August 2022, our awesome friend Steve, aged 46, was diagnosed with a stage 4 Glioblastoma brain tumour. After enduring 27 rounds of radiotherapy, multiple cycles of chemo, so many complications and hospital stays, a pulmonary embolism and losing the use of his left leg from a 4-hour seizure, poor Steve got the news that the treatment wasn’t working and the tumour was growing.

As much as the NHS, UCLH and Queens Square Hospital have been amazing, Steve’s family hit a dead end. They needed to do more. They couldn’t access all the treatments they needed in the UK or on the NHS.

Fran, Steve’s incredible wife tirelessly researched alternative treatment options and they have been travelling every 6 weeks to the IOZK clinic in Germany for immunotherapy treatment. The treatment includes Keytruda, hypothermia, onocolytic virus therapy and ultimately a customised vaccine. The treatment IS making a difference, his seizures have reduced, and his mobility has improved. Steve’s latest scan finally showed stability, some tumour reduction and his medical team believe it’s all going in the right direction. It’s the first positive news that Steve and Fran have received since this hideous nightmare began. The challenge is that this treatment is extremely expensive. Steve requires a variety of treatments. The aim being to prolong Steve’s life and, potentially, stop the tumour in its tracks. We want to give Steve as much additional time with his family and daughter Autumn as possible.

Fran has been caring for Steve and raising funds for his treatment. She never thought this would happen to Steve or that they’d need to go outside the UK for care and that the care would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. What this family has had to experience over the past year and a half has been incredibly sad to see and therefore we want to support them in any way we can.

We’ve come together and devised a plan for a sponsored walk on Saturday 24 February 2024, this will help keep Steve’s treatment going and also raise awareness for much-needed brain cancer research. It was devastating to find out that brain tumours kill more people under 40 than any other cancer. Yet just 1% of the national spending on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since 2002. We are asking the Palmers Green community to please unite and sponsor us however big or small, every donation helps. We are sending our love and endless gratitude to you all.

You can support Steve and his family by visiting our fundraising page  

Steve’s friends from Palmers Green xx