A PERSONAL trainer who has multiple brain tumours has abseiled 100 metres for charity.
Jenny Weller found out she had five brain tumours after collapsing at home.
She has now marked her first year since diagnosis by launching a year-long fundraising campaign.
Jenny, from Burgess Hill, was among a group of 14 to take the plunge and abseil down Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower, a stunt which has seen her "fantastic" group – named Team WellerFest – raise more than £6,000 for Brain Tumour Research.
The 36-year-old, who owns specialist fitness centre Rapid Results Personal Training, said: “It was brilliant, everybody loved it. I think a lot of people realised they were scared of heights, but everybody made their way down.”
“I’m really chuffed with the amount we’ve raised. I was desperate to get it to £5,480 so we had enough to sponsor two days of research at one of the charity’s research centres of excellence but anything over that is a bonus."
Jenny was taken to hospital at the end of August last year and was told she had a primary tumour in her lung and a number of secondary tumours, including one in her neck, another in her pelvis and five in her brain.
She said: “I’m definitely trying to be positive. My prognosis isn’t fantastic but as far as I’m aware the cancer only progressed to my brain early on. My brain scans have been stable and the only place I’ve seen progression is in my chest. In an ideal world we’d hope to shrink it but I think the main goal is to try and stop it progressing any further and effectively buy me some time."
Team Wellerfest is made up of Jenny’s clients as well as friends and family and the hope is for the group to grow as the year’s fundraising plans progress.
Jenny said: “I’ve got people who like doing different types of things. Some have said they’ll not do anything up in the air again but they’ll be happy to do things on land, some are really keen cyclists, some are adrenaline junkies and we even have a sea swimmer so it’s a good mix – I think we’ll all contribute ideas and take it from there.”
Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Jen’s story is a stark reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone at any time. It’s the reason we remain focused on finding a cure, to help prevent more families from having their lives turned upside down by this devastating disease.”
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under 40 than any other cancer yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.
To support the team’s fundraising efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/team/Wellerfest.
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