A brain tumour charity set after a 17-year-old boy from Pinner died is funding a significant amount to new research finding a cure for the disease.

William Low was just five when he was first diagnosed with an aggressive medulloblastoma brain tumour.

For the rest of his life, the tumour had a major impact to his livelihood before he died just six weeks before his 18th birthday in 2017.

Now four years since his death, the William Low Trust will donate £143,657 over a four year period to fund a PhD student dedicated to finding a brain tumour cure.

The researcher will be working within a team of experts at Brain Tumour Research’s Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), developing new treatment strategies to inhibit the progression of aggressive medulloblastoma.

Led by Professor Silvia Marino, the team at QMUL announced earlier this year they had discovered a breakthrough in the way that some children with medulloblastoma brain tumours might be treated in future.

The launch of the William Low Trust

The launch of the William Low Trust

The tumour is the most common high-grade brain tumour in children, with around 70 diagnosed in the UK each year.

Helen, William’s mother, who helped set up the trust, said: “Losing our William was and is so incredibly painful and heart-breaking. He went through gruelling treatment over a 12-year period and suffered with nausea every day, but he never complained.

"Craig, William’s father, and I exhaustively investigated every possible drug trial available all over the world in a desperate attempt to find something that could save William, but we were eventually forced to accept that there was nothing suitable and that medicine was simply not advanced enough. At the tender age of 17, it was tragically the end of the road for our beautiful William”.

“Setting up The William Low Trust, which has become a Member Charity of Brain Tumour Research, was our way of doing something positive for other families. Our dearest wish is that William’s legacy brings hope for families in the future, who are supporting a loved one who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour.”

“We have a lot of work to do in raising the funds over the next four years but are committed to making a significant difference to treatment for people with medulloblastoma brain tumours”.