THE SISTER of a young man from Berkshire, lost to an incurable glioblastoma brain tumour in November 2021, aged 17, joined with other high-flying fundraisers to raise money to help find a cure for the devastating disease.
Sandhurst 16-year-old, Martha Treharne, was too young to skydive with family and friends to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research in 2022 when her mum Nikki jumped with Ethan’s ashes strapped to her chest.
But in May this year, she braved the epic Jump for Hope challenge and leapt from 15,000 feet over Old Sarum Airfield in Salisbury, along with dad Justin, 18-year-old brother Finlay and seven of Ethan’s friends.
Ethan would have been 21 in January this year.
His family continues to keep his memory alive, and has set up A New Hope for Ethan, a fundraising group that has generated more than £60,000 for Brain Tumour Research to date.
Martha, who is about to sit her GCSEs at Sandhurst School, said: “I’m super-excited and proud to be jumping for my brother.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time.
“Dad is also doing his first skydive because he promised to do it with me when I was old enough – but he’s petrified.”
Ethan was a gifted sportsman, playing basketball and cricket, along with being a talented goalkeeper with Aldershot Academy.
When he had exhausted treatment options in the UK, Nikki and husband Justin found pioneering immunotherapy treatment in Germany for Ethan.
It did shrink the tumour, but eventually he became too ill to travel and had to stop that treatment too.
Finlay, who earlier this year trekked 50km across the Sahara with dad Justin to raise more than £2,500, said: “Doing the Sahara trek was such an amazing experience.
“As a family, we all find fundraising gives us a real purpose, although it doesn’t change the fact that there’s such a big hole where Ethan used to be.”
Mum Nikki agreed.
“Every day is tough without Ethan – he was such a big character,” she said.
“It’s so lovely that Finlay and Martha want to play their part in changing the landscape for those diagnosed with brain tumours as a legacy for their big brother.
“And it’s comforting that Ethan’s friends keep in touch with us so we have an idea of what he might have been up to now – possibly getting ready to graduate from university and start building his own life.
“Ethan would be so proud that his siblings and so many of his friends, including Lewis Campbell, whose friendship goes back to when he and Ethan started nursery together aged three, continue to fundraise in his name to bring about better outcomes for brain tumour patients in the future.
Poor Lewis is as petrified as Justin about taking on his first skydive, but is determined to do it for Ethan.”
Just under 13% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years, compared with an average of 54% across all cancers.
Yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Katrina Jones, head of community and digital fundraising for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are hugely grateful to all who took on Jump for Hope in memory of Ethan in the quest to re-write the future of people diagnosed with the disease.
“Brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone at any age – they kill more children than leukaemia.
“Researchers at our Centres of Excellence are focused on bringing about better outcomes for patients and ultimately a cure for all brain tumours.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK.
It also campaigns for the Government and 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.
For information, and to donate to the charity, people can visit: braintumourresearch.org/donate-now (giving A New Hope for Ethan as their reason).
