Elly Monaghan was a loving wife, mother of three and grandmother of six.

She was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) brain tumour in 2022 after slurring her words and sounding very confused. GBM is the most common type of high-grade brain tumour in adults with a typical survival prognosis of just 12 to 18 months.

Elly had surgery to debulk the tumour followed by radiotherapy. She then started chemotherapy treatment but only managed one and a half cycles as her body was unable to cope – her white platelet levels dropped so low we were told her treatment had to stop, even though Elly seemed quite well in herself. It was so frustrating to hear that there were no other treatment options she could turn to. Elly died in July 2023,14 months after diagnosis.

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. Treatments haven’t changed for decades; meanwhile one in three people knows someone affected.

The Monaghan family has set up the Fundraising Group Elly’s Herd to support Brain Tumour Research as we all agree that research is the way forward in order to bring about wider treatment options for brain tumour patients. We don’t want other families to find themselves in the same shocking treatment dilemma as us with no answers.

Please help us fund research to find more effective treatments and ultimately a cure. Whether you make a donation, choose to hold a coffee morning, run a marathon, or ask your business to be a Charity of the Year for Brain Tumour Research, it all makes a big difference.

Thank you