An Airdrie family has raised nearly £34,000 for a charity close to their heart in memory of their four-year-old son who died from a brain tumour.
Nadia and Sarfraz Majid lost their son, Rayhan, in April 2018, just four months after he was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumour.
Despite undergoing several surgical procedures and radiotherapy, Rayhan's tumour continued to grow, and he passed away shortly after beginning chemotherapy treatment.
Nadia said: "Our beloved Rayhan was expected to battle brain cancer with armour that was outdated and inadequate from the outset.
"If he were still here, Rayhan would have just started his last year of primary school and would have been looking forward to moving into high school.
"Instead, we can only imagine how he would have been or what he might have been into through his friends."
After being shocked at the grim statistics for brain tumour patients and the underfunded research into finding better outcomes, Nadia started a fundraising group called Remembering Rayhan.
This was set up under the umbrella of Brain Tumour Research charity and has raised almost £34,000 to date.
Nadia, along with her sister Irem Minhas and their children, will be taking part in the Motherwell Walk of Hope in Strathclyde Country Park on Saturday, September 28.
This is one of six flagship walks being held by the charity on that day and follows a 6km family-friendly route along the valley of the River Clyde.
To donate to Remembering Rayhan, go to https://tinyurl.com/yn7xdr23.
To find out more and register for one of the Walk of Hope events, or sign up to do your own, go to www.walk-of-hope.org.
Nadia said: "We are really looking forward to taking part and meeting with lots of charity supporters all with the same common goal to find a cure for brain tumours.
"My daughter Eliza was really excited to see an advert for the Walk of Hope on the back of a bus recently and that has really stepped up her enthusiasm for busily making bracelets in Brain Tumour Research’s pink and yellow colours to sell on the day to help raise funds for Remembering Rayhan.
Scotland has grown since the early days of Remembering Rayhan – thanks to Brain Tumour Research.
"It’s so encouraging how the brain tumour community in"I’ve also seen how campaigning is growing with MPs at Holyrood really starting to take notice that research into brain tumours is desperately underfunded.
"This is a very exciting time for families in Scotland affected by brain tumours with a new Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities in collaboration with the Beatson Cancer Charity around the corner.
"It’s too late for Rayhan, but it will definitely bring much needed hope for those affected in the future."
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.
Ashley McWilliams, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: "We are really grateful to Nadia and her family for continuing Rayhan’s incredible legacy and taking part in Walk of Hope.
"It promises to be a great day out when people affected by brain tumours can come together to raise funds, bringing hope to families affected the disease in the future."
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