At BNI Camberley we meet lots of interesting people and their companies but occasionally visitors to our meetings remain in my memory for a long time. One such visitor was Karen Capel who with her husband Kevin organise a children’s cancer charity – Christopher’s Smile.
They set up Christopher’s Smile in October 2008 having lost their son, Christopher in June the same year to an aggressive medulloblastoma brain tumour. Following a 21 month battle with the disease he passed away 9 days before his 6th birthday. They wanted to find something positive in their tragedy and thought long and hard about the direction that they should take. They felt strongly that the current cycle with childhood cancer needs to be broken.
Our vision is for every child diagnosed with childhood cancer to not only survive, but to reach adulthood enjoying a good quality of life.
The survival rates for many children have not improved in over 50 years and often those who survive their disease are left with a legacy of side effects due to treatments. These side effects can include permanent organ damage, permanent sensory damage such as hearing loss, permanent and irreparable damage to the brain.
The charity recently celebrated its 5th birthday and has fully funded 3 research positions and a fourth almost funded. The research positions are for the development of new targeted drugs to treat medulloblastoma and other childhood cancers without devastating side effects.
You can help fund this next research position by clicking here to donate.
Registered Charity No.1129906