A couple of weeks ago at a lunch with friends we met local Gungahlin mother Imogen Wills. Gungahlin being Gungahlin Nicole had already met Imogen through swimming lessons for the kids but had only spoken briefly during lessons.
Over lunch Imogen shared her story about her son Benny who had sadly passed away in 2009 when he was just four years old. Benny had Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an inoperable brainstem tumour. The most aggressive of all paediatric brain tumours, the survival rate for DIPG is 0%.
The Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick commenced a program researching outcomes for brain stem tumours and named the program in honour of Benny. The Benny Wills Brain Tumour Research Program has been running now since 2010.
The research program is already having exciting breakthroughs. They have been able to successfully grow DIPG tumour cells in a test tube. This development has allowed them to perform experiments to identify new drugs that may be active against this devastating tumour. They have performed the world’s first robotic screen for DIPG, using state of the art technology that can test thousands of new drugs for their ability to destroy these tumour cells.
A major fundraiser for the Benny Wills Brain Tumour Research Program is the Benny Wills Gala Dinner. The fourth annual Gala Dinner will take place on Saturday 14th September 2013 at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden.
The evening will include canapés, a two course meal and drinks. There will be a celebrity guest speaker, live and silent auctions, a raffle and entertainment.
Please get your friends and family together for a fabulous night out and help us raise money to find a cure for paediatric brain tumours.
For more information about the Benny Wills Brain Tumour Research Program to donate to the cause and to book tickets to the Gala Dinner please see http://www.bennywills.org/.
We hope to see you there!
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