Mike's story

On 14 June 2020, Mike Foster, my stepfather, lost a courageous but difficult struggle against brain cancer, a little shy of a year since his diagnosis. Mike was but 57 years old.

In July 2019, Mike received the devastating news out of the blue that he had a large and incredibly aggressive brain tumour - called a "glioblastoma". This was a shock to everyone. Mike was a fit and healthy 56 year old, and led a busy life as an economics teacher at Felsted School (previously at Hills Road VI Form College in Cambridge), and loved to hike and cycle. Mike's prognosis was bleak. Even within this category of tumours, he had a number of genetic markers and characteristics that meant the odds were stacked against him from the start. Coupled with that, brain cancer (and particularly glioblastoma) is notoriously difficult to treat and has severely limited treatment options. As such, the mortality rate stands out as one of the worst of all cancers. Shockingly, and shamefully, survival rates have barely changed since the 70s.

Sadly, Mike's cognitive function was massively affected from his diagnosis and even more so after his brain surgery. He lost the ability to read and speak properly - something that naturally devastated him as a teacher and lover of language and books. Mike's condition gradually deteriorated over the 11 months from his diagnosis, despite engaging fully with the few treatment options open to him. In his last months, he received excellent, gentle and compassionate care from two hospices: at home care from Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford and inpatient care from St Clare Hospice in Harlow.

Mike was one of the most kind, gentle and tolerant people I knew. This never changed, even when he was debilitatingly ill. I am sure many people will remember him in the same way.

In his memory, we would love to fundraise as much as possible for four very special charities. Any donations received will be split equally four-ways to:

1) Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford

2) Saint Clare Hospice in Harlow

3) The Brain Tumour Charity

4) Cure Glioblastoma

As well as supporting the hospices Mike received care from, we dearly hope that, in his honour, we can support two charities close to our hearts, which also provided us with support throughout Mike's illness. They are also very focused on finding cures, not simply quick fixes, or sticky plasters, for glioblastoma. It is only by finding a cure for glioblastoma, that we can work towards improving the survival chances of all the other "Mikes" still out there, and those whose tumours are yet to be diagnosed. We know that Mike, a scrupulously charitable person, would not want his death to be in vain, and we hope that we can go some way to helping these inspirational charities research curative treatments for this most cruel disease.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read.

Julie, Hannah and Edward