Newly-wed who lost wife to cancer only 13 weeks after diagnosis makes £50,000 donation to charity in her memory

And this week her husband James transferred the donation to Cancer Research UK in his wife’s memory to fund future cancer research.

>>>Click here to read more about Charlottes life and her fundraising goals

Charlotte died in July, just 13 weeks after being diagnosed with grade four astrocytoma, and only seven months on from the couple’s wedding day.

Zero Sense of Tumour

Shortly after her diagnosis at the beginning of April, Charlotte decided to set up a Go Fund Me page under the name Zero Sense of Tumour in aid of Cancer Research UK. Contributions from friends, family and colleagues came flooding in and the £50,000 target was reached shortly after her death.

James said: “Charlotte was incredibly kind and caring and spent a lot of her free time helping other people.

"She set up the Go Fund Me page from her hospital bed the day after her first brain surgery, she just felt that she needed to do something.

"And Charlotte was adamant that any money donated would be used for research and treatments for all cancers, not just brain tumours which are relatively rare, she wanted the money to help as many people as possible.”

Charlotte’s story

Charlotte grew up in Leyland, and attended Wellfield High School and Runshaw College before setting off to travel the world when she was 20.

She spent time in Australia and then moved on to New Zealand, where she met James in 2016. The couple got engaged in 2019 and married in December 2021, having moved to London.

Long Covid

James, 33 said: "We hadn’t been married long when we both got Covid. Then we got over it and Charlotte kept on getting headaches and we just put them down to long covid for a while.

“She was still functioning brilliantly at this point, just a headache that did get worse and worse eventually. Initially her GP said it could be down to stress and to take it easy.

"Then it all happened stupidly quickly. Charlotte got diagnosed on April 5, it was a Tuesday, in the space of a day she suddenly started feeling really dizzy and seeing lights and then tripping over and she had this numbness all the way down one side of her body and she couldn’t walk.”

Tumour the size of an orange

A CT scan revealed a tumour the “size of an orange” and Charlotte was diagnosed with grade four astrocytoma. In the space of six weeks, she underwent five brain operations that removed 95 per cent of the tumour.

But as she was due to start radiotherapy and chemotherapy in June, a scan showed the tumour had grown back significantly.

Charlotte decided against more treatment, organised her own funeral, and said goodbye to loved ones before passing away three weeks later, on July 7.

Every penny counts

James said: “I can’t do anything to change what has happened, but this is one thing I can do. I hope as many people as possible see the Go Fund Me page and continue to donate, however much they can, every penny counts to help research for everyone affected by cancer.”

Director of Philanthropy at Cancer Research UK Chris Gethin, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to James and every single person who contributed to this generous donation in memory of Charlotte. The overwhelming support the Go Fund Me page has received is a testament to how many people’s lives Charlotte touched. Our thoughts are with James and all Charlotte’s loved ones at this deeply sad time.

“One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime and every step we make towards beating cancer relies on vital donations. We’ve come so far but still have further to go and this donation will enable us to continue making pioneering discoveries in the future to accelerate progress and improve cancer survival to 3 in 4 by 2034.”

Visit Charlotte’s Go Fund Me page here to make a donation in memory of Charlotte or go to https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved for more information on offering regular support.