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Shirley Willerton was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2022. She needed immediate surgery for the tumour, so Shirley was referred to The Christie for treatment. After her surgery, Shirley also had intensive chemotherapy at The Christie.
Outside of her treatment, Shirley works as a mortuary technician at Tameside General Hospital. Shirley’s team at Tameside supported her throughout her treatment and were really pleased with the level of care she received from The Christie.
The Tameside mortuary team said The Christie provided Shirley with excellent supportive care. This meant Shirley has been able to return to her full-time role within the mortuary at Tameside, providing support to bereaved relatives.
To show their support for Shirley and to say thanks to The Christie for her treatment, the Tameside mortuary team decided to take on a fundraising event for The Christie Charity. One of Shirley’s friends and colleagues, Wendy Scholes, had always wanted to do a skydive and convinced other members of the team to take on the challenge with her, with 9 team members taking part in total.
On Sunday 29 October 2023, the Tameside mortuary team did their skydive at the Black Knights Skydiving Centre in Lancaster. All 9 managed to do the 15,000ft tandem jump and even though a few members of the team were nervous beforehand, everyone said they absolutely loved the experience.
The Tameside mortuary team even managed to beat their fundraising target of £5,000, with a final fundraising total of just over £5,100! Their incredible fundraising efforts will help to support brain tumour research at The Christie.
“We chose The Christie because our dear colleague, Shirley Willerton, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Shirley is a massive part of the Tameside Mortuary Team and we wanted to do something to show our love and support to her and towards the amazing treatment she has been receiving.
