Beat the Brain Tumour-3 peaks for Darren

My name is Freya Shields, myself and my boyfriend Sam will be taking on the National Three Peaks Challenge on the 19th of July to raise funds for my Dad’s cancer treatment.

In 2012, following a number of seizures my Dad was diagnosed with an Oligodendroglioma, a type of slow growing brain tumour.

He has had chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the last 10 years to keep things as stable as possible.

In July 2023, he was told that the tumour was advancing and options were becoming very limited in terms of what could be done, and that things were going to start getting progressively worse.

He has been having palliative chemotherapy for the last year and while he is doing relatively well, eventually this will stop working and/or he will become too unwell from the side effects of this to continue with the treatment. The tumour will gradually become more and more invasive, causing severe neurological problems which will eventually result in death. My dad is 42.

My dad’s illness has already meant he has lost things he loved such as; riding his motorbike, driving a car and more recently his business as a self employed barber, which he worked so hard to achieve, but was forced to close last year when his illness became debilitating.

My dad is so inspirational and courageous. He has undergone a lot of treatment recently and has had periods where we were genuinely concerned that he wasn’t going to recover.

In spite of all of this, he never feels sorry for himself and still manages to be strong and positive for us, often using his humour to get us all through.

My dad, Darren Shields, is the most amazing, kind hearted, funniest and bravest man I have ever known. He is a wonderful dad to me and my sister and someone I have looked up to for the past 18 years of my life.

I couldn’t imagine how life would be without him but unfortunately with the pace of things there’s a likelihood he wont be able to see me and my sister start our own families, buy our first homes, or get married.

There is however a chance we can slow things down if we can access treatment that is not available in the UK.

First and foremost, my dad needs an operation to remove as much of the tumour as possible. This is something which is not being offered to us through the NHS so we have identified a private hospital abroad that is prepared to operate in an attempt to remove between 50-80% of the tumour.

Following surgery, my dad will need additional treatments which may include; chemotherapy, immunotherapy and Biotherapy, and a specific regime will be advised once the tumour has been analysed.

My mum and dad are putting things in place to self fund the operation but beyond this, we will be relying on fundraising to pay for any additional medical treatment. At this point we have no idea of exact figures but know that whatever options are available will be costly. Without treatment following surgery, it is anticipated that the tumour will start growing back within 3-6 months so time is critical.

My dad’s illness can never be cured in its entirety so this will always be something we are living with but we may be able to reset the clock considerably if we can achieve our goal.

A message from my mum………

Darren and I met when I was 16, purely by chance. I’ve always believed this was fate, but 20 years later i am certain of this. I’m strong, emotionally resilient, practical and resourceful all of the things required in bucket loads, to watch your soul mate, husband and best friend be tormented by such a cruel disease.

We know bad things happen to good people everyday but contemplating being a widow at 37 and being separated from the person that is half of you is heartbreaking and something I will not accept easily. I feel it is my duty as a mother and wife to do all that I can to ensure that Darren has access to any options available that will prolong his life, and give him more time with a family that cherish and adore him. Unfortunately those options cannot be found in this country and so we find ourselves turning to services abroad.

Although I know Darren’s life is worth no more than anybody else’s, I have faith that there are people willing and compassionate enough to support us in the smallest way they possibly can by donating through our go fund me page.

Our family will be forever indebted to anybody in a position to help us, and both Darren and I promise to pay it forward for the rest of our lives……

Anne-Marie & Darren

My mum and dad will be going abroad next month to the clinic and will keep the page updated.

They are planned to travel abroad the first week of July and all being well surgery will be completed. If successful, the plan is that my dad will remain at the hospital to receive the required follow up treatment, but as mentioned we will require significant funding for this to happen. Again, please consider supporting us in any small way that you can and/or by helping to share the page. 

Any money donated that is not used to directly support my dad will be donated to the Brain Tumour Charity

 Thanks Freya & Jasmine