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A student from Toddington is taking part in a month-long challenge to help raise funds for research into the disease that took her dad’s life.

Charlotte Greatorex was just nine years old when her father, Paul, died two months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Charlotte, now aged 21, said: “Dad’s symptoms began around February 2012 with him vomiting and not being able to keep anything down. My mum also said he became very forgetful. He ended up going to hospital because he was dehydrated and became really unwell, which is when his tumour was discovered.”

Paul Greatorex with his son Tom and daughter Charlotte

Paul, an IT worker and father-of-three from Leighton Buzzard, underwent surgery but a post-op MRI showed his tumour was too aggressive for further treatment and he was referred to palliative care. He died in April 2012, aged 56.

Charlotte, a psychology with criminology undergraduate at De Montfort University in Leicester, added: “He was very loving and a really good dad. Mum always said he was the smartest man she ever met. He loved to read and one of my favourite things about him was the fact he’d always win first place in a pub quiz.

“My grief has been an ongoing thing. I think for most people, it never stops, but that’s especially true when you experience it as a child. I’ve gone through different stages of grief as I’ve aged.”

Charlotte is now preparing to take part in the Brain Tumour Research charity’s 200k in May Your Way, which challenges participants to walk, jog, run, cycle, swim, or combine activities, to complete a 200km distance over the course of the month.

She said: “I’m planning to do a mixture of exercises. I want to run a bit. I’m not the best runner but I’ve almost completed Couch to 5K, so I can run for about 30 minutes at a time. I’ll also be walking and I’ll try to get some distance in during my spin classes.

“I’m feeling quite excited about it. Some of my friends have said: ‘Charlotte, that’s pretty far, have you considered how far that is?’ I think I’m in my own denial bubble but I’m feeling quite positive about it.”

She added: “I don’t think people realise just how common brain tumours are. I know of quite a few who’ve had them or, unfortunately, passed away because of them.

“It makes me keen to raise awareness of the disease and to help fund research so better treatments can be found and other children don’t have to go through the pain of losing a parent, nor parents the pain of losing a child.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “With one in three people knowing someone affected by a brain tumour, Paul’s story is, sadly, not unique. Brain tumours kill more men under 70 than prostate cancer, more women under 35 than breast cancer and more children than leukaemia. We’re determined to change that, but we can’t do it alone. We’re really grateful to Charlotte for taking on this challenge and wish her the best of luck. Anyone else interested in signing up for it can do so here.”

Charlotte has already raised £609. Click here to support her gofundme page