Woman raises thousands for charity following sister's brain surgery

A woman who grew up in Ascot has cycled from London to Paris to fundraise for The National Brain Appeal after her sister underwent brain surgery to remove a tumour.

Lawyer Kate Boakes, 33, set off with her husband Emad Akhtar on Sunday, August 7 to cycle 200 miles from London to Paris.

In 2021, her sister, lawyer Rachel Boakes, 31, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent brain surgery at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London – the hospital The National Brain Appeal charity fundraises for.

The sisters grew up in Ascot and attended St Michael’s Primary School in Sunningdale, before moving onto Charters School and Oxford University.

More than £15,500 has been raised so far.

In February 2021, doctors discovered a malignant tumour in Rachel’s thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes, and a low-grade brain tumour.

With the thyroid as the priority at the time, Rachel underwent surgery and radioactive iodine therapy.

She said: “It was a complete shock and so much to take in. I had never needed surgery or had an anaesthetic and I ended up having two operations just for the thyroid cancer.

“This was during lockdown and I had to go to hospital for the operations by myself with no visitors.”

In August 2021, Rachel had a follow-up MRI scan which suggested that it would be advisable to consider also operating on her brain tumour.

Rachel added: “I did a lot of research and this led me to The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, and in particular, consultant neurosurgeon Mr Andrew McEvoy who specialises in awake brain surgery.”

Her tumour, which was a grade two astrocytoma, was in her left temporal lobe and was very close to the part of her brain controlling speech and language.

Through being awake during the surgery, doctors can keep checking that Rachel is able to talk and answer questions and that those parts of her brain are not being damaged.

After taking time to decide on whether to have the awake brain surgery, Rachel opted to go ahead with it, and it was scheduled for December 2021.

At the time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rachel could not have any visitors.

The National Brain Appeal provided funding to create The Molly Lane Fox Unit, the UK’s first dedicated Brain Tumour Unit and ward where Rachel was admitted and received care when she had her surgery.

Rachel’s operation took place at the hospital’s interventional MRI operating theatre (IMRI), which is the first of its kind in the UK and is also funded by the charity.

Doctors could conduct an MRI scan during her surgery to check that they had removed as much of the diseased tissue as possible.

Rachel also had a speech and language therapist talking to her the entire time and making her do verbal tests to make sure that there was no damage to that area of her brain.

The charity also funded the ‘most significant brain cancer trial in decades’ – the IPI-GLIO, which saw 119 patients recruited across seven sites.

Patients are currently being followed up and the findings are due to be reporter next year.

She added: “Having awake brain surgery and being in hospital on my own again was very challenging.

“I am so relieved that the operation went ok. I cannot thank Andrew McEvoy, Anna Miserocchi and all of the team enough.

“All of the staff at the hospital were lovely and helped me get through it.”

Rachel was discharged from hospital three days later and spent the next two months resting and letting her brain recover before returning to work.

Due to the type of tumour Rachel has, ‘it is likely to grow back’, however, she is not letting this define her.

Kate Boakes said: “Rachel is my little sister and all I have ever wanted to do is protect her.

“It is hard not to feel helpless when serious illness strikes out of the blue. She has been incredible facing what she has had to face in the last year. I am so proud of her.”

She added: “Cycling to Paris raising money for The National Brain Appeal was our way of saying thank you to the incredible staff at The National Hospital and to help support the work that they do as a leader in the field of brain cancer care.

“More research into new treatments for brain cancer is urgently needed. We are so grateful to everyone who has donated.”

To view Kate’s JustGiving fundraiser, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kate-Boakes