Brainy Bunch to run for charity in memory of mother
A TEAM of more than a dozen runners will be pounding the streets of Inverness next month in memory of a Highland mum who died from a brain tumour earlier this year.
Among them will be Katy Sutherland, who watched her mother Jackie, put up a brave four-year fight for life.
Katy (26) and her team at Baxters River Ness 10K will be running in aid of the Jackie Sutherland Memorial Fund – an official support group of the Brain Tumour Charity – and hope their efforts on September 24 will eventually ensure that other families do not have to go through the same heartache they have endured.
She is among the staff from the Department of Work and Pensions in Inverness, Dingwall and Forres that have formed the Brainy Bunch.
Jackie, from Conon Bridge, was aged 52 when she passed away in February. She had been diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2013 and underwent two rounds of surgery and gruelling courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to treat it.
Just three per cent of people who are diagnosed with the disease go on to survive longer than three years, so Jackie was set to defy the odds and was responding well. However, just when things were looking up, she suddenly had a stroke.
Doctors then revealed that the tumour had returned. Jackie and her family were given the devastating news that it was inoperable and she had just six months to live.
Katy decided to set up The Jackie Sutherland Memorial Fund in April in the hope of improving the lives of others affected by brain tumours. She has already raised £22,500.
She said: "With further research and understanding, I hope it will prevent families in the future from losing a loved one too soon to this horrendous, debilitating disease.
"Losing someone you love is hard, but watching someone you love lose each of their senses over a cruel six-month period and all you could do was hold her hand, smile and tell her how amazing she was and that things were going to be OK – I have never felt so useless."
The Brain Tumour Charity relies on donations to work towards its twin goals of doubling survival rates and halving the harm caused by brain tumours.
Geraldine Piping, director of fundraising at charity, said: "We are extremely grateful to Jackie’s family and friends for raising awareness and funds in the face of their own loss.
"Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and people under 40 in the UK and survival rates have not improved significantly over the last 40 years. We need to change that."
To donate to the team, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thebrainybunch
