Annie Gorringe: Conquering her fears to fundraise for glioblastoma
After her dad passing away from an aggressive brain tumour, Annie has chosen to start on a fundraising mission to support the Glioblastoma (Brain Cancer) Research. Read on to find out about her story, and what she is doing to support the Glioblastoma vital research.
Annie’s dad, David Gorringe, sadly passed away in December 2022 from a brain tumour. For the last few years, Annie and her partner Matt have decided to embark on a new endeavour to raise money in memory of her dad for the Glioblastoma Research Fund. Annie always found joy in helping others and is very keen to support the research and raise awareness.
The Glioblastoma (Brain Cancer) Fund has been set to support ground-breaking research into immunotherapy, a promising new treatment for glioblastoma. Despite intensive treatment with surgery, radiotherapy & chemotherapy, people with glioblastoma on average lose 20 years of life – the highest average years of life lost compared to other cancers.
Aiming to keep David’s memory going and other families, this year, Matt and Annie raised £640 by walking 9.5 miles from Sandbanks to Hengistbury Head Beach, while stopping at PierZip at Rockreef, to face Annie’s fear of heights on the Zip Wire. David spent some of his life in Surrey where he worked as a chef. He then moved to Norfolk, where he enjoyed spending time outdoors walking the dogs, being close to the sea, and gardening at every opportunity he had. He spent the last five years of his life in Spain where he had his first seizure and sadly passed away on the 6th of December 2022.
Annie shares some fond memories she had with her dad:
“Where should I start, he wasn't just my dad he was my best friend, we spoke every day and shared so many happy memories. He was the life of the party, the person who brightened up the room, put everyone first every time and always had a glass of something in his hand. He always put me, my mum, and our dog, Mackie, first, he loved the bones of us. Towards the end of his life, many people said he was as strong as an Ox and an inspiration to us all. He put all the energy he had left in making sure Mum and I were looked after, safe, and as happy as possible. When he was able, he was on his knees painting in the garden in Spain, helping me to bake a cake to make those last memories. “
On behalf of the University and the Glioblastoma research team we would like thank Annie and her family for all their hard work through the past year and for choosing to support the research.
How you can help
We extend our gratitude to our generous donors for their contributions. Alumni and friends of the University of Liverpool have generously donated £234,665 out of our target of £250,000 towards the Glioblastoma Research. Your support of this groundbreaking research will help our researchers investigate the effectiveness of immunotherapy as a treatment for brain cancer. Further research will help identify the immune system factors that contribute to longer survival rates in patients and may identify new ways to treat glioblastoma. Please support our Glioblastoma (Brain Cancer) Fund today.