A businessman in Eton and his family are starring in a campaign to raise funds for brain tumour research - after his brother was diagnosed with the condition.
Jonny Foster, 37, the owner of Venture Photography Eton, was shocked when his fit and seemingly healthy brother Stuart, now 38, was diagnosed with an inoperable and incurable brain tumour in March 2015 and later underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.
Now his family are sharing the story and their images are being seen across the country as the marketing campaign is launched for Brain Tumour Awareness Month in March. The month culminates in Wear A Hat Day on Friday, March 27.
Now in its 11th year, Wear A Hat Day has raised more than £1.25 million to help fund the fight against the disease.
Taking part in the campaign are Jonny, his wife Emma, their three children, Maximus eight, and four-year-old twins Pippa and Leo, Stuart who lives in Fleet, Hampshire, his wife Georgia along with their two children Florence, six, and four-year-old Freddie.
The brothers' mum and dad Chris and Christine Foster and 95-year-old grandmother Heather Foster are also involved.
Jonny said: “It was a huge shock when Stuart, a project manager in our dad’s construction business, had a massive seizure completely out-of-the-blue and was found to have an inoperable tumour because of its position in the brain.
“He had three years of ‘watch and wait’ and then the tumour was found to have grown by 30 per cent, so he had a biopsy which revealed that he had an oligodendroglioma brain tumour.
“Stuart underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but was only able to complete two cycles because the treatment made him so ill. Fortunately, however, a subsequent scan showed that the treatment had been effective in reducing the size of his brain tumour by 25%.
“Over the five years since being diagnosed, Stuart has lost his driving licence three times because of seizures and has to have regular scans to check that the tumour isn’t growing again.
“Both the Foster family and Venture Studios in Eton are delighted to be supporting Brain Tumour Research’s Wear A Hat Day campaign.
“It wasn’t until Stuart’s diagnosis that we realised how many adults and children are affected by brain tumours and how underfunded research into this horrible condition is.”
You can register to take part at www.wearahatday.org
Text HAT to 70450 to donate £5
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here