Mum hosts fundraiser for Beatson and Wellbeing Centre

A doting mum is hosting a charity fundraiser to thank the people who helped her son throughout his cancer treatment.

Maureen Kenny, 65, has been busy organising a fun, family-friendly tea party in aid of son, Jamie, 37, who recently underwent treatment for throat cancer.

There will be food, drinks and entertainment at the fundraiser, as well as a host of charity games including tombola and a raffle.

All proceeds from the event, which takes place at the Columba Club, in Renfrew, next Sunday, will go to the Beatson and its Wellbeing Centre, which operates as an in-patient retreat inside the institute.

It’s the family’s way of saying thank-you to the staff and nurses at the Glasgow hospital for all that they did for Jamie during his illness.

Renfrew- born Jamie was diagnosed with stage one throat cancer at the beginning of the year after suffering a sore throat, which he initially thought was a case of laryngitis.

Maureen said:“It came completely out of the blue. There’s no history of throat cancer in our family.

“It was a devastating time and, as a mother, it was very hard to watch my son undergo treatment.”

Jamie had 20 sessions of radiotherapy at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which successfully cleared his body of cancerous cells.

“It was agonizing for him. He said to me, ‘Mum, it’s like 1,000 wasps stinging my neck’,” the mum-of-three explained.

“During treatment, he would get reflexology at the Beatson Wellbeing Centre and that was what kept him going.”

The centre provides a unique space where patients can relax away from the clinical environment of the wards.

Jamie was a biomedical science student at the University of the West of Scotland, but had to suspend his studies when he became ill.

He said his experience with the staff in the Wellbeing Centre was second to none.

He told us: “Radiotherapy shattered me both physically and mentally.

“The centre is all about making the patient feel better — there’s complementary therapies, TV screens, you can do things like get your hair or nails done, and the staff there are amazing.

“It let me unwind and escape for a while, away from the hospital wards and the suffering.”

The Wellbeing Centre is funded entirely by the Beatson charity through the generosity of its supporters.

The Kenny family hope to raise £1,500 to donate to help the hospital continue to deliver the service.

Jamie, who hopes to re-apply to university to finish his degree next summer, added: “Having cancer so young was a wake-up call.

“All my life plans changed in the blink of an eye and it made me realise it can happen to anyone.

“I will continue to raise money for charity to help others, so that if I can come through it others will hopefully be able to as well.”

 You can donate to the Kenny’s Beatson fundraiser online at https://www.justgiving. com/ fundraising/ maureenkenny1

Having cancer so young was a wake-up call Jamie Kenny