Laura Nuttall's mum calls for more brain cancer funding

The mother of Laura Nuttall, who ticked off a bucket list while living with brain cancer, has handed in a petition to Downing Street calling for more funding into the disease.

The 23-year-old, from Barrowford, Lancashire, died in May.

Nicola Nuttall said she was "horrified" by the statistics and has called on the government to ringfence £110m.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was "investing" in research infrastructure and training.

The petition has more than 80,000 signatures.

Ms Nuttall was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer, following a routine eye test in 2018.

Despite her diagnosis and years of treatment, she went on to work her way through her list of ambitions, which saw her meet Michelle Obama, command a Royal Navy ship, graduate from the University of Manchester and present the weather on BBC North West Tonight.

Mrs Nuttall said: "Laura was given a prognosis of 12 months, which she managed to outlive and she was with us for four and a half years.

"She went back to university in Manchester and graduated in 2021 and she was very lucky, but that luck came at a cost and we had to fund treatment she had in Germany."

She said: "Peter Kay did some shows for us that helped us to raise those funds and we found innovative treatments that we were able to access because we had raised the money for it.

"But it shouldn't be that case, it should be up to the NHS to fund these treatments.

"It should be everybody's right to get a treatment that's not been the same for 20 years.

"There has been no new drugs for brain cancer for 20 years and that is so different from other cancers."

She told BBC North West: "You have an 80% chance of still being alive with a diagnosis of breast cancer five years after your diagnosis.

"With brain cancer that is 5%, which means 95% of people with brain cancer won't see five years and that's just an astonishing statistic, and when you compare that with the fact that it currently gets 2% of the total cancer research spend, it just doesn't make any sense.

"How can a cancer that kills more under 40s and more children than any other cancer gets such a tiny amount allocated to it?"

Mrs Nuttall continued: "Laura was passionate about raising awareness and finding a cure.

"It broke her heart every time she heard of another young person diagnosed with a brain tumour.

"It's eight months since we lost our beautiful daughter, we miss her every minute of every day but I know campaigning for change is what she wanted us to do, so that in the future, other families don't have to endure the same devastation that we have."

Dan Knowles, chief executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: "We are calling on the government to ring-fence £110 million of current and new funding to kick-start an increase in the national investment in brain tumour research to £35 million a year by 2028."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Brain cancer is a devastating disease, which is why we've made £40m available for research projects specifically looking for new treatments and therapies to tackle this illness.

"We're investing in research infrastructure, workshops and training for clinicians to further progress developments in this field.

"And we continue to encourage further applications for research funding from successful candidates through the National Institute for Health and Care Research."

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