Crowds of people flock to fundraising day for Shifnal woman with brain tumour

Christel Callow was diagnosed with a stage three cancer called anaplastic astrocytoma after doctors at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital found a tennis-ball sized tumour.

The 26-year-old had part of the tumour removed but was told radiotherapy needed to shrink what remained, potentially affecting her speech and movement.

Her family, however, have discovered proton beam therapy which can target specific tumours – but need to raise £62,000 for it.

A fundraising campaign was launched after the discovery in a bid to raise the money for Christel, with an event held at The Shifnal War Memorial on Saturday.

Family and friends wore Cure 4 Christel shirts and residents offered their support.

Christel's older brother, Ashley Callow, said: "It's really gone brilliantly.

"It's spiralled so quickly and the support from people is overwhelming.

"She's so thankful for people pulling together and getting behind her.

"It's gone really well and in the first 30 minutes it was already full.

"It's the whole community that have come out – friends, family, and everyone has come out to support her."

The 29-year-old said the event was to show how many people supported his younger sister.

He said: "It's not even about the money, it's to show Christel people support her.

"It's a big help and it's been a lovely day for people to come down and for her to see the support.

"It's a breath of fresh air with lots of happy faces.

"She's quite a strong-willed and strong-minded woman and she's done well to keep positive through it and that's very important."

The 26-year-old was suffering from headaches for around two months before she booked an appointment for an eye test on July 22.

The optician noticed abnormalities in her right eye, which caused a haemorrhage, and that led to the MRI scan.

Ashley said the family had been left shocked by the diagnosis, but praised the NHS for Christel's treatment.

He added: "It's all happened so fast.

"We were all scared, shocked and it was hard to take it all in.

"As soon as she found out she was having the operation and we're so thankful for the NHS, how they reacted and removed what they could at the time.

"We were all just shocked – you don't know your left from your right.

"Now it's a fingers-crossed thing. It's the biggest thing, the money.

"Money is immaterial but it's an issue which it should never be when it comes to someone's health."

Due to the severity of the cancer, the group have until the end of September to raise the funds.

People can donate to the fundraiser by visiting www.facebook.com/donate/362318418009785/