Meg’s mountain fundraiser in memory of eight-year-old niece

A woman from Devon has set herself a year-long challenge to climb 12 mountains in 12 months to raise money for Brain Tumour Research after her young niece died from the deadly disease.

Little Carys Bradshaw was living in Sydney, Australia, when she was diagnosed with an aggressive and high-grade diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) in January 2017. Her diagnosis came after the six-year-old suffered painful headaches. A scan revealed the devastating news that there was a mass growing in the pons area of her brain stem which was inoperable, due to its location. Carys died just 15 months later in April 2018.

Carys’ aunt, 28-year-old emergency services worker Meg Williams, from Honiton, is raising money in memory of her beloved niece by climbing 12 different mountains throughout 2022.

Desperate to prolong Carys’ life, she and her family made the move from Australia to Devon once Carys finished gruelling radiotherapy treatment and they signed up to a London-based trial called convection enhanced delivery (CED) to try to help stabilise Carys’ tumour.

The invasive treatment involved an operation to implant up to four hollow tubes where chemotherapy drugs were delivered directly into the tumour which was buried deep in Carys’ brainstem and meant long commutes every month from Devon to London.

Meg said: “We were told the life expectancy of a child diagnosed with this type of tumour was about a year. Despite the difficult experience of this diagnosis and treatment, Carys remained happy and giggly throughout this time. She was always an absolute joy to be around.”

Carys attended Tipton St John Primary School in Sidmouth for a year during her treatment in the UK and whilst the CED treatment prolonged her quality of life, the cancer spread. She gradually lost control of her body, eventually unable to move and speak and she died surrounded by her family on 6 April 2018.

The year-long challenge, nicknamed ‘Meg’s Mountains’ has already seen Meg take on Pen y Fan in Wales and High Willhays and Yes Tor in Dartmoor. She has so far climbed a combined height of 2,126 metres.

Carys’ mother, 40-year-old nurse Rachel Bradshaw, who also has a seven-year-old daughter called Maya, is supportive of sister-in-law Meg’s challenge and hopes to visit the UK in summer to cheer her on after returning to Australia when Carys passed away.

Meg said: “I knew I would do something to raise money and didn’t feel ready to do that for a little while. Then with COVID over the last couple of years, it hit home that I had spent so much time inside not being able to do anything and you just never know how much time you have. I chose to climb mountains to get outside and explore the UK countryside more and it seemed fitting as, the saying goes, heaven is a little bit closer at the top of a mountain.”

Meg plans to travel throughout the UK and has her sights set on Snowdon in Wales and the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England as she aims to raise more than £2,740 which is needed to fund a day of research at one of the charity’s Research Centres of Excellence.

Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re so sorry to hear about Carys losing her battle with a brain tumour at such a young age and we are grateful to the family for sharing her story. Sadly, Meg’s family are not alone in their grief. Too many families are being ripped apart by this devastating disease. It’s only with the support of people like Meg that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients who are forced to fight this awful disease.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.

To donate to Meg’s fundraiser, please visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/MegsMountains