National Brain Appeal chief executive to row down Thames for charity
Theresa Dauncey had lost her husband to brain cancer
Friday, 7th September 2018 — By Tom Foot
THE chief executive of the National Brain Appeal is preparing for a 22-mile charity row down the Thames.
Theresa Dauncey is raising funds for the charity in Queen Square, Bloomsbury, which supports the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. Her husband Jorge was treated for brain cancer there before he died in 2011.
She said: “People have warned me that it is not going to be easy but we have put in a lot of training so hopefully we are prepared. We start around 10am and think it is going to be about four hours’ hard rowing. Let’s hope the wind is behind us!”
The Great River Race, known as London’s river marathon, starts at Millwall Riverside, Docklands, and ends at Ham House in Richmond.
A team of 18, including several architects from Stanton Williams, will join Theresa for the challenge tomorrow (Saturday).
Jorge had surgery at The National Hospital in 2004 where as much as possible of his tumour was removed. He went on to have six weeks of daily radiotherapy. He recovered pretty quickly, considering, and life largely returned to normal. In 2007, when Theresa was pregnant with their second daughter, Jorge needed further surgery. He recovered well from this but his symptoms returned in 2009. He died in August 2011.
Ms Dauncey added: “When my husband Jorge was first diagnosed in 2004, the outlook for patients in terms of treatment options and long-term prognosis was bleak. Sadly it still is.
“That’s why this immunotherapy clinical trial is so vital.”
She added: “Looking back, knowing that when I went to work all through Jorge’s periods of illness I was actually helping the cause of people like my husband really helped. It still motivates me today.”
To support Theresa go to: https://www.just giving.com/fundraising/ theresa-dauncey18
