The Christie Charity
Press release posted 26 July 2024
Maya Tohid, a 13-year-old from Wilmslow in Cheshire, has been nominated for a Pride of Britain and a JustGiving award after she ran nearly 100km for charity while having treatment for a brain tumour at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, a specialist cancer centre in Manchester.
Maya, who lives with her mum, dad, and younger sister, was diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma, an uncommon type of brain tumour, after having headaches so severe that she couldn’t get out of bed.
She had an operation at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to drain the cystic part of her tumour, but unfortunately the solid part was too close to critical parts of the brain to be operated on. Maya was then referred to The Christie for 28 sessions of daily proton beam therapy, a type of radiotherapy.
It was while she was at The Christie that she came up with the idea of running 100k during her treatment to raise awareness of brain tumours and to raise money for the charity Young Lives vs Cancer. She’s raised over £10k so far.
“Initially, I wasn’t sure about it as treatment is tough enough, let alone adding anything else into the mix,” comments Maya’s mum, Mahta. “But in the end, it was a really positive thing for us. It brought us real hope and gave us something positive to focus on as a family. The fact that she raised so much money is brilliant as well.”
Maya finished her treatment in October last year and her most recent scans show that her tumour is stable. She has regular check-ups with her teams at the children’s hospital and The Christie but is back at school and back doing the things she loves – ice skating, playing the violin and running, of course.
Earlier on in the year she was told that she was up for both Pride of Britain and a JustGiving award. The team at JustGiving told her that nearly 80 people had nominated her.
“I was so happy when I found out,” comments Maya. “I started doing the challenge because I wanted to do something I hated to raise awareness, I never thought that so many people would be interested. I still can’t quite believe it. And I actually like running now. I can go much further than I could when I was ill.”
“Maya is very inspirational. The determination she has and courage to remain positive is exemplary and I’m very pleased that she’s being recognised for that,” comments Dr. Shermaine Pan, Maya’s consultant at The Christie.
You can vote for Maya in the ‘Teen Fundraiser’ category of the JustGiving Awards. Voting closes at midday on 16 August.
You can also nominate Maya in the 'GMB Young Fundraiser of the Year' in the Pride of Britain award. The more nominations she receives, the more likely she is to win.