June 19, 2015, by Lindsay Brooke

Mohican money for UK’s first interoperative scanner

When Verity Oliver decided to shave off her auburn locks to help raise the £1.6m needed for the UK’s first in-theatre interoperative brain scanner little did she know that her new hair style would swell the fund by a staggering £2,163.42.

Why did she take the clippers to her locks? Well she knows more than many of us what a difference this scanner would make.

Her 18 year old son Connor was diagnosed with a brain tumour when he was 11 years old. Still smiling after years of operations and rigorous chemotherapy treatment he was there to see the cheque handed over the Richard Grundy, Professor of Paediatric Neuro-oncology and Cancer Biology and Co-Director of the Children’s Brain Tumour Research Centre.

Verity’s JustGiving page will tell you more about Connor and his long running battle against cancer. But here at The University of Nottingham we can only say a heart felt thank you to Verity for her fund raising efforts.

Andy Legge, Community Fundraising Manager, Faculty of Campaign and Alumni Relations Office, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive such a generous donation from the Oliver family and are very proud of their fundraising achievement. We are always keen to support fundraising groups who would like to help raise funds for our scanner appeal in order to help more young people like Connor. If you would like to support our campaign, please contact impactcampaign@nottingham.ac.uk.”

The new scanner will allow surgeons to visualise more easily the extent and position of the tumour to ensure that all, or as much as possible, of the tumour is safely removed during an operation. They will be able to use the system to monitor for other complications during surgery such as hydrocephalus, brain swelling or bleeding and in many cases it should reduce the need for additional surgery.

The project is a partnership between Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham Children’s Hospital and the CBTRC, which is an internationally-renowned centre for excellence in paediatric neuro-oncology research.

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