Mum raises £175,000 for hospital ward in memory of daughter
FUNDRAISER: Ruth Knowles with neurosurgeons Chittoor Rajaraman and Gerry O'Reilly
By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor
A woman who has raised almost £175,000 for a ward at Hull Royal Infirmary in memory of her daughter has visited the hospital with her latest donation to help patients with brain tumours.
Ruth and Tony Knowles launched their fundraising campaign to support the neurosurgical department at the hospital in 1998 after the death of their 22-year-old daughter Emma-Jayne.
The couple, of Sutton on Sea in Lincolnshire, were awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours List in 2014 and although Tony died last year, Ruth has continued their mission.
She visited Ward 40 at Hull Royal Infirmary, where Emma-Jayne was treated before her death, to hand over her latest cheque for £10,573, which included donations made at Tony’s funeral.
She also presented her husband’s British Empire Medal to the ward in recognition of the deep admiration and respect she holds for staff who have worked in neurosciences there.
IN MEMORY: Emma Jayne Knowles
Chittoor Rajaraman and Gerry O'Reilly, both consultants in neurosurgery, hosted a special celebration for Ruth and her friends along with Ward 4 and 40 charge nurse Paul Johnson and Ben Davison, chief of service for neuroscience specialist care group, and other members of staff.
Ruth was also reunited with Caroline Paterson and Ronnie Milner, the nurses who looked after Emma-Jayne while she was on Ward 40.
She told the team: “You are worth your weight in gold.
“There’s no need to thank me. I do this because I love to do it.”
Sean Lyons, chair of Humber Health Partnership, said: “We are extremely grateful to Mrs Knowles for her unwavering support of our neurosurgical team.
“The money raised by Mr and Mrs Knowles has meant that, over these past 26 years since Emma-Jayne’s sad death, we have been able to purchase the latest technology to help us save patients’ lives and assist their recovery after surgery.”
Emma-Jayne was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary in April 1998 after an MRI scan confirmed she had a rare brain tumour affecting just one in 1.5m people.
She underwent 35 radiotherapy sessions because the tumour was too deep in her brain for surgeons to operate but died in December 1998, six days before Christmas and two weeks before her 23rd birthday.
Her parents started fundraising at her funeral, raising £1,100. Since then, they have continued to make donations to the hospital through a variety of charitable events including a bikeathon, which is now an annual event, sponsored walks and running races.
Over the years, their donations have been used to purchase specialist equipment used by neurosurgeons to remove brain tumours, a reclining chair to assist patients during the initial stages of their rehabilitation and an iPad and applications for speech and language therapy.
They have also funded an ophthalmoscope and otoscope, used to look in a patient’s eyes and ears following brain injury, a wheelchair and physiotherapy for patients to assist their recovery.