Year 2 – Journo Jess raises money and awareness in Brain Tumour Research 10k challenge

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Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

The February 2022 Brain Tumour Research 10k challenge

For this years challenge, I decided that I wanted to go all out – so I purchased a multi-coloured wig, a fun personalised cape, a couple of Brain Tumour Research hats, a new pair of hiking boots, plus a few other items for my 10K outfits. And it was well worth it, because I managed to get a lot of attention on the streets as well as online, so that I could raise even more money this year for my Brain Tumour Research Fundraiser – Super Hero Style! 

Journo Jess dressed in Brain Tumour Research Superhero outfit

Thus, I made it my mission to spread the word about why I was doing this 10K challenge whilst raising awareness about the devastating impacts a brain tumour can have on one’s life. Being a 21 year brain tumour survivour myself, I understand the importance of brain tumour research, because living with a benign inoperable brain tumour certainly has not been the easiest thing to do. 

A few weeks before starting my 1️⃣ 0️⃣ K Brain Tumour Research challenge, I decided to get a head start on my fundraising in hopes to get some early donations – and I did so by sharing a momentous day I was celebrating, it was my  2️⃣  1️⃣  year 🧠  tumour anniversary❗️

Fortunately, because I started promoting my fundraiser early, I was able to raise over £100 for my 10K fundraiser before even starting my challenge! 

I was beyond excited to have made such an achievement before even starting my challenge – and because I received my first donation along with others, I was able to receive my Brain Tumour Research packet much earlier than I did last year, which included the Brain Tumour Research shirt, calendar, and magazine (i.e. you have to get your first donation before receiving this fundraising pack).

So you could say that I felt more prepared this year when I started my 10K Brain Tumour Research challenge  – and I was more determined to hit many more goals I had for the 10K challenge!  🤨 💪🏻 🥾 🧠 💷

I also got others involved in the February 2022 Brain Tumour Research 10k challenge who are based in America – two family members Diana Shay and Hannah Shay, a close friend Megan Payano, and then Megan recruited a friend of hers Samantha Bozeman. 

Diana Shay
Diana Shay
Hannah Shay
Hannah Shay
Megan Payano
Megan Payano
Samantha Bozeman
Samantha Bozeman
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So needless to say, we were off to a great start this year to make the February 2022 10K Brain Tumour Research challenge a success!

Week 1️⃣ of the 10K Brain Tumour Research Challenge

I was all set and ready to go for the 10K Brain Tumour Research challenge.  And being the journo that I am, I of course had to have my equipment on me at all times, which included my iPhone, camera, tripod, and selfie stick! Honestly, it was great fun! I managed to use all my journo skills I have learned thus far, plus I gained some new ones along the way. By doing so, I was able to make my February 10K Brain Tumour Research fundraiser a huge success❗️ 🤨  🎥  📲  🎙  📸

While I was out on my walks, I decided that I should also GO LIVE everyday across all my social media channels, so that I could not only connect better with my Donors and Followers, but also encourage others to LIKE, FOLLOW, SHARE, and or DONATE to my Brain Tumour Research 10K Facebook fundraiser or Just Giving Page.

Now I had never done a LIVE feed before, but I knew it was a way I could show my Donors as well as my Followers in ‘real time’ that I was committed to the challenge, plus I knew it was a valuable skill I could gain for my journalism career!

I am not going to lie, it was a bit nerve wracking to do a live feed; however, because I have had so much broadcast experience during my journalism studies,  I just tried to put into practice everything I had learned thus far before ‘going live’. And during my ‘lives’, I had many interacting with me while I was ‘live’. It was such a liberating feeling to see that many were enjoying my live feeds.

As a few days went by, I was excited that I was achieving my 10K steps easily! Not only was it fun to share the journey with my Followers and my Donors, but it was even more fun to meet up with friends while I was out on my walks. Moreover, on Day 3️⃣ I met up with a friend for some Starbucks coffee  – plus we walked around town for a bit, then decided to grab some more coffee at The Cat Lounge – it was great fun! 🥰  🥾 🤝 🐱 

The days where I got the most steps were the days when I had to work at my part time waitressing job. Once I started tracking my steps there, I realised I was blowing my 10K step goal out of the water – and some days I managed to walk over 25,000 steps at my waitressing job in 1️⃣  day! 

Now I would have loved for my husband to join me more on my walks for the 10K challenge; however, unfortunately, he was extremely busy during the month of February, because he had to finish and submit a project for his master’s program. 

On the other hand, he still tried his best to do daily walks with me when he was able – my hubby was and always will be my biggest supporter, and I am so very grateful for that!🥰

And not only did I get my hubby to go out with me for my 10K steps, but I also got him to participate in my Facebook Live as well! 👇🏻  ▶️   👀

By day 7️⃣  I had already raised £154 for the Brain Tumour Research 10K challenge, it was such a good feeling! Not only did I start this challenge hoping to raise awareness around the devastating impact a brain tumour can have, but I was also achieving my 10k steps everyday whilst raising money for the Brain Tumour Research  charity!

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Week 2️⃣ of the 10K Brain Tumour Research Challenge

By Week 2️⃣  I felt that I had a good handle on how to successfully smash my 10K steps everyday whilst raising awareness around the devastating impacts a brain tumour can have.

And if you can’t tell, I tried to have as much fun with the challenge that I possibly could, plus I ventured out to many different parks in and around Coventry to make it even more fun!

Plus by going live every day, I was really able to get the word out! 

Did you know⁉️

‘Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40.’                                                                              – The Brain Tumour Charity

The more I continued to achieve my step goal, the more empowered I felt – I knew that what I was doing could potentially make an impact, because a cure for brain tumours needs to be found, ‘a cure can’t wait’!

Additional stats from Brain Tumour Research: 

● Too many people are being faced with the devastating diagnosis each year – every two hours, someone is diagnosed with a brain tumour in England.

● In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour.’

● Only 12% of brain tumour patients survive beyond five  years of their diagnosis, whereas over 70% of breast cancer and over 40% of leukaemia patients survive beyond five years.’

By Day 9️⃣  I was having a lot of fun with my walks. Although it may have been cold, but fortunately not raining, I still had to make sure to dress in the right attire for the cold weather. While on my walk to the canals, I decided to inform my followers about my brain tumour story, because while I know many may know about my brain tumour story, I was aware that there were many of my Followers who may not. 

‘I was diagnosed with a benign inoperable brain tumour at age 13 and since being diagnosed I have had 30 brain surgeries in 21 years!

– Jessica Noel Quinlan-Fukuchi

Upon moving to the UK and doing research around the stark statistics of those struggling after the diagnosis of a brain tumour, it was heart breaking to hear and read about the lack of treatments available to those diagnosed with a brain tumour living in the U.K. And unfortunately, many are having to self-fund to get the necessary medical treatment’s which are found elsewhere – such as Germany or the U.S. and that can be very expensive. And because of this, crowd-funding is often used to raise money to get the medical treatment that is needed for a loved one who has been diagnosed with a brain tumour and needing treatment.

By Day 1️⃣3️⃣ I had hit a monumental moment – I raised £274, which amounts to 10% of a days worth of research in the lab, which meant I was guaranteed to receive a special Brain Tumour Research Medal for my efforts with funds raised for the February 2022 10K Brain Tumour Research challenge. 

Photo credit: Marcos Kenji Fukuchi (i.e. husband)

Brain Tumour Research Medal received on 16 March 2022

Receiving this medal along with hitting the achievement of £274 meant so much to me – and I felt proud! I worked so hard for it, plus I knew just by raising 10% of my £3000 goal, it was still going to make such an impact on brain tumour research. 

While I was celebrating such an achievement on Day 1️⃣3️⃣ – let me tell you the struggle was real, because it started to rain like crazy for the next few days; however, I was still determined to achieve my 10k step goal every day even though I had to do so in the rain. 

And while it might have been raining on Day 1️⃣3️⃣ – I was still determined to GO LIVE, because I did not want let my Followers down. I wanted to show them my determination as well as my efforts to help find a cure for brain tumours. 

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Week 3️⃣ of the 10K Brain Tumour Research Challenge

February 1️⃣ 4️⃣ - The Day of Love

On Day 1️⃣4️⃣ – it was time to celebrate Valentine’s Day, one of my favourite holidays, because it is mine and my husbands anniversary – we’ve been a couple for 8 years now. Therefore, I wanted to celebrate ‘The Day of Love’ by encouraging others on my social media platforms to ‘show some love’ to my fundraising pages. And I did so by showing my Followers and Donors that even though it was raining and it was Valentine’s Day, I was still determined to achieve my step goal for that day! 🥰 💝 🥰 

FYI ‘Going LIVE’ whilst holding an umbrella was most certainly not the easiest thing to do; however, being the persistent, determined person that I am, I managed to pull it off – thankfully! 🤨 🥰 💝

As I continued to pull in more donations, I couldn’t help but feel gratitude as well as reminisce of what got me through all those 30 brain surgeries, which came down to my Faith. For me, there was always one particular scripture verse that I clung to while enduring so many brain surgeries:

‘For I know that plans I have for you, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’ 

– Jeremiah 29:11

Additionally, I’ve got to say, when I first started going through all these brain surgeries, there’s no way I could have told you I was going to end up living in England with a wonderful loving husband. So it really did seem that God had a plan – and now I can’t wait to see what more is in store for the future.

Day 1️⃣ 5️⃣ was another day of all-day cleaning, so by the end of the day any remaining 10k steps that I needed, I managed to get on my treadmill!

Day 1️⃣ 6️⃣  was especially fun, because I decided to take a trip to Birmingham. I actually used to take the train to Birmingham all the time, because that’s where I went to school for my master’s program – so needless to say, it felt really good to be back! 

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Birmingham was because I really wanted to take a picture in front of the Bull statue while I was dressed up in my 10K outfit. Funny story though, I accidentally grabbed the wrong attachments for my tripod, so needless to say, I was struggling to take the selfie that I wanted to take. Fortunately though, a nice police officer graciously took my desired picture that I wanted with the Bull statue.

And of course I had to ‘Go LIVE’ at Birmingham City University, where I gained my post grad degree. It was quite fun ‘Going LIVE’ at a place that is so familiar to me. I haven’t been to BCU since before the pandemic started, so it definitely felt good to be back – I missed it!  

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Week 4️⃣ of the 10K Brain Tumour Research Challenge

Week 4️⃣ was definitely the most exciting week, because after speaking with Lauren Theodosi – a PR Officer with Brain Tumour Research – she informed me of a media agency that was interested in publishing my brain tumour story. So I decided to sign with SWNS Media Group – and my story ended up getting national attention, i.e. I had 28 articles published, which were published all throughout England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. The articles were stories about my brain tumour journey as well as my participating in the 10k Brain Tumour Research challenge.

At this point during my challenge, I was completely overwhelmed with excitement! I couldn’t believe how much attention my story had got – and I feel like this is just the beginning of big things to come!  

With consideration to the fact that I was ‘going LIVE’ during my walks, I wanted to do the same while on my treadmill – ‘GO LIVE’. And it ended being a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be. I believe that since I was ‘going live’ often, I was starting to become a natural at it!

As my challenge started to come to a close, I was beyond disbelief on how much progress I made! It was exciting that I managed to achieve 10K steps everyday, plus I raised nearly £840 for the Brain Tumour Research charity! With that said, I made a significant improvement compared to last years challenge!

Featured below: My Donors who contributed to my FacebookFundraiser and my Just Giving Fundraiser for the Brain Tumour Research charity. I appreciate each and every person who donated to my 10K Fundraiser for the Brain Tumour Research charity – without their support my fundraiser would not have been much a success! 

Chloe Eloise Allen
Elizabeth Quinlan
Diana Black Shay
Tammi Johnson
Sonya Kaminski
Judy Deacon
Allyssa Rea
Fahima Khatun
Samuel Daives
Jane Sims
Chloe Whitehead
Renee Reece Lambert
Monica Skitt
Naomi Beth Hale
Alex Goodall
Christina Moore
Eveline Spada
Canal Donor
Lizzie & Alex

And also ‘thank you’ to my other supporters who encouraged me and gave me the motivation whilst I endured the 10K Brain Tumour Research challenge.

As I had so much success with this year’s challenge, I am already starting to plan for next year’s Brain Tumour Research February 2023 10K challenge – so stay tuned, because I hope to top what I did from this year’s challenge!

If you felt inspired by my efforts to raise awareness and funds for brain tumour research, please follow this link to donate to the Brain Tumour Research charity to help find a cure for brain tumours.

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By Jessica Quinlan, Freelance Journalist

Updated March 24, 2022

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