A Castletown woman has been walking laps of the island’s Southern 100 course in memory of her dad who died from a brain tumour.

Kerry Humphreys, accompanied by her sister Bev and friend Chelsea Gale, is walking a lap of the 4.25 mile course every day of this month to raise money for Brain Tumour Research, a UK-based medical research charity dedicated to funding research and raising awareness of brain tumours.

It comes after her 69-year-old dad, Patrick-John O’Brien – known to all as Chucka – died from a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumour in February 2020.

Mr O’Brien was a quartermaster on the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company with over 40 years’ service and Mrs Humphreys explained that the Southern 100 was close to his heart.

The 41-year-old said: ‘Dad always used to go and watch the Southern 100.

‘He is buried at Malew Church, which is known as “Church Bends” on the course, so I get to pass him each time I do a lap.

‘Brain tumours get such a small amount of government funding, it’s disgraceful, so it’s so important that I can raise as much money as possible to help fight this devastating disease.’

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet, and historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this disease.

Mrs Humphreys explained her family first realised something was wrong in February 2018 when he had a car accident.

She said: ‘Dad was reversing his van at the harbour in Castletown and he hit the white metal bollards. Without knowing he kept reversing and scraped the passenger side of the van.

vision

‘He realised that he couldn’t see out of the left side of his eye properly because his peripheral vision had gone.’

Mr O’Brien was told he had a terminal brain tumour and that he would have 15 months to live if he had treatment.

In November 2019, a routine doctors appointment in Liverpool and another MRI scan revealed he had two tumours on his spine.

Mrs Humphreys added: ‘He was told there was no point in having chemotherapy now. Dad didn’t tell us any of this until January because he said he didn’t want to ruin Christmas. He couldn’t sleep, and he was hallucinating. He was in so much pain and said he wanted to go into a hospice to get the pain-relief under control.’

In mid-January 2020, Chucka went to the Hospice Isle of Man which was in Port Erin at the time. He was there for two weeks before he died on February 3.

Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: ‘We’re really grateful to Kerry as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Chucka who are forced to fight this awful disease.

‘Unlike many other cancers, brain tumours are indiscriminate. They can affect anyone at any time. Too little is known about the causes and that is why increased investment in research is vital.’

To donate to Kerry’s fundraising page, visit her JustGiving page called ‘Kerry’s step by step, day by day for dad’.