Widnes dance teacher inspired to help after her dad died from a brain tumour

Alexandra Lewis, 38, lost her dad, Philip Lewis in July 2021, after being told he had a frontal lobe brain tumour in January of that year.

She said: “Dad’s whole personality changed. We noticed Dad was struggling to find the right words and was a bit confused when speaking, so we contacted his GP who thought he might have suffered a stroke.

“He was referred to the stroke clinic at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham the next day. He had an MRI scan which revealed he had a frontal lobe brain tumour.

“I was in total shock and just couldn’t believe it. I kept thinking: ‘how could this happen?’”

Alexandra and her father, Philip Lewis

Alexandra runs the The Alexandra Jane School of Dance in Newton-Le-Willows. To remember her dad, Alexandra has invited the children of the dance school to come in wearing a hat of their choice for a small donation today.

The money raised will help the charity fund research to find effective treatments.

Alexandra said: “I’m doing this to remember dad and to raise awareness of this devastating disease.

“It was frightening how quickly he deteriorated. In the end, he wasn’t like my dad and he didn’t know who I was.”

Whether it’s at school, work or at home, wear a hat day has become a nationally important fundraising and awareness event that people across the UK support every year.

Statistics from Brain Tumour Research state that in the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours.

Emily Slater, from Brain Tumour Research said: “We are encouraging people to join in with #WearAHatDay by posting a hat selfie on social media, clubbing together with friends and family or colleagues for a lunch event or coffee and cake or simply by making an online donation via www.braintumourresearch.org.”

You can register to take part today at www.wearahatday.org.