Twilight walk in memory of Barton-le-Clay's 'Gorgeous' George Fox who died of brain cancer one year ago

Hundreds of people took part in a twilight walk to honour the first anniversary of the death of a much-loved teenage boy.

George Fox, from Barton-le-Clay, died in April 2022, 11 months after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM). He was 13 years old.

The young Arsenal supporter, nicknamed Gorgeous George, underwent multiple brain surgeries, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and even travelled to Germany and America for treatment.

Hundreds of people from the village joined George’s friends and family on a 4km walk from the recreation ground to the top of Barton Springs, part of the Barton Hills National Nature Reserve, where a memorial bench has been installed in his memory.

His mum Louise said: “Our friends did a walk for George when we were in LA, trying to get home but faced with extortionate medical bills. Someone Facetimed us, we watched it with George and he couldn’t believe it, there were about 600 people involved.

“My friend wanted to do it again to mark his anniversary but our grief at this time has left us even lower than usual and we didn’t have the energy, so she organised everything. It was a time of reflection, of thinking about George, and seeing everyone at his memorial bench was very overwhelming.

“It was beautiful, though. The ribbons were put up around the village again, red in honour of George’s favourite football team, and some of our friends decorated his bench, just for the night. It was lit up in red and there were loads of gorgeous red balloons, and this massive stream of people, 300-400, as our whole community came together; it was really special.”

She added: “I want people to remember George for the person he was, a kind, fun boy who was full of life. He really wanted to live and had amazing plans. He was really good at making things and wanted to be an architect. He loved his family and animals and knew so much about so many things. He just made us so proud all the time. It’s such a huge loss.”

Since George’s diagnosis, Louise and husband Matt have worked tirelessly with the charity Brain Tumour Research to campaign for greater investment in research into brain tumours. They, with the help of friends and family, have also raised tens of thousands of pounds, enough to sponsor 14 days of research at one of the charity’s four Centres of Excellence.

Louise said: “It isn’t fair this has happened and is still happening every day. We need to continue to stand together in this fight. Unless action is taken, I’m scared of how many other children will be affected by this disease. So, we won’t give up. If we did, it would feel like we were betraying George because he wanted to live and wouldn’t want us to give up.

“What we’re doing won’t bring him back, but we’ll continue to do what we can to help others in his memory. We want to continue to explore every avenue we can to make things better for the future.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “George was a very special boy who touched the hearts of everyone who knew him. To see how well attended this twilight walk was in his memory was incredibly heart-warming, although not surprising for somebody so well-known and loved. We remembered him on this anniversary as we will in the years to come, along with all the other lives lost to this cruel disease, as we continue our work to improve treatment options for patients and, ultimately, find a cure.

“Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia and any other cancer yet, historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease. This has to change.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure. The charity is the driving force behind the call for a national annual spend of £35 million in order to improve survival rates and patient outcomes in line with other cancers such as breast cancer and leukaemia and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.

To find out more about Brain Tumour Research, visit www.braintumourresearch.org.