For The Love Of Jess

A mum from little lever has lived through every parent’s worst nightmare and is now raising money and awareness of the condition which claimed the life her young daughter.

- Paul Mackenzie

LISA McLoughlin has no special plans for Mother’s Day this month. She will spend March 26 with her partner Carl and their young daughter Abigail, but another little girl will be in their thoughts, too.

The couple’s first child, Jessica, was diagnosed with an aggressive and inoperable brain tumour when she was just three years old. She died three years later.

The family filled those final years of little Jessica’s life with fun and created scores of happy memories

Since Jessica’s death, Lisa and Carl, who live in Little Lever near Bolton, have raised more than £50,000 to fund research and they are now backing a campaign to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of childhood brain tumours.

The HeadSmart campaign, run by The Brain Tumour Charity, has helped cut the average diagnosis time for a childhood brain tumour in the UK from more than 13 weeks to six and a half weeks. They are now fighting to bring that figure below four weeks, in order to save lives and reduce the long-term disability caused by childhood brain tumours.

Jessica’s mum, Lisa, who was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Year’s Honours List, said: ‘Jessica was so brave that we wanted to continue fighting brain tumours in her memory.