A man is fundraising for Brain Tumour Research after his RAF engineer brother died from the deadly disease.
Father-of-two, Anthony Hard (Ant) from Newport in south Wales was diagnosed with a low-grade glioma in 2011, after putting his ‘secret’ seizures down to stress and ‘over-doing it’ at the gym.
The RAF corporal aircraft engineer was on tour in Afghanistan in 2011 when he suffered his first major seizure. After a second seizure on his return home, he was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where a scan revealed a mass on Ant’s brain, just eight days after the birth of his second child.
Despite two operations, radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment, Ant’s tumour was too aggressive and nothing could save him and he died 27 November in 2015 at the age of 36 leaving behind his wife, Nahella, 42 and two children Reagan who is 18 and Casey aged 11.
On 6 May, 88 golfers are set to tee-off at Cottrell Park Golf Resort in Cardiff to remember Ant and raise money for Brain Tumour Research, for a charity golf day organised by Ant’s younger brother, Michael Hard, 41 an RAF aircraft engineer from Newport.
Michael said: “I always looked up to Ant, and I even followed him into RAF, and became an engineer just like him.
“My mum called me to tell me what had happened to Ant and that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. It was shocking, but my brother and I were very similar in that we both had a positive outlook and would look for a solution when faced with a problem.”
An operation in April 2012 to remove the mass followed by gruelling radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment stabilised the tumour, however 10 months later, Ant’s tumour returned and a second operation revealed the devastating news the tumour had grown back faster and more aggressive and Ant was diagnosed with an oligoastrocytoma .
Radiotherapy and chemotherapy was no longer effective and Ant was given months to live.
Michael said: “We were told he had less than a year to live and I remember looking at Ant and he looked defeated, far from his usual upbeat self and that was a moment when it all became real.”
Ant’s condition deteriorated quickly and he died at home surrounded by his loving family on 27 November 2015.
Now in its seventh year, the charity golf day has raised almost £7,000 and this year event organisers Michael and friend Rhys Jones, 40, head of service at Better Leisure in Cardiff, are aiming to raise even more money for Brain Tumour Research to help find a cure for the deadly disease which currently receives only 1% of the UK national spend on cancer research.
Mel Tiley, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We were so very sorry to learn about Ant and we are sending our thoughts to the family. It’s incredibly heart-warming to hear that Ant’s death has inspired his brother to host an annual event in his memory. Ant’s story reminds us that brain tumours are indiscriminate and kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. We wish Michael the best of luck for his event this year.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the 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.
You can donate to Michael’s fundraiser by visiting: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mike-hard
