Family set up Halloween fundraiser for medical research after Dunchurch teenager's tragic death from leukaemia

The family of a Dunchurch teenager who died of leukaemia earlier this year has set up a fund in his name to help to raise money for research into the disease.

Fred Bennett’s Don’t Look Down Fund has been set up with Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) to raise money for much-needed research into acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), after 14-year-old Fred's death in May.

Since being launched in September, the fund has already raised more than £5,000, with a special Halloween fundraiser planned for the end of the month.

Fred’s mum, Louise Bennett, said: “Fred’s favourite night of the year was Halloween.

"Every year there was much excitement, from the costumes, the make-up, the pumpkins and severed hot dog fingers.

“With the restrictions in place this year, we would hate for it to be a low-key affair, even if trick or treating is cancelled.

“That’s why we’ve put together a ‘Halloween Heist’ challenge, where we want people to decorate their houses, have 24-hour movie marathons and tell ghost stories amongst other things.

“Kids can even spend the week dressed up as the Joker if they want to.

“Parents and children can come up with their own sponsored Halloween-related challenges, too.

“The main focus is that instead of spending five or ten pounds on sweets to give out at the door, which nobody is going to be able to do because of the restrictions, they donate it to the fund instead.

“There’s lots going on in Dunchurch and we’d love as many people as possible from the wider Warwickshire area to get involved, raising as much money as we can, but having lots of fun, too.”

Fred was just 13 when he was diagnosed with ALL in July 2019, after complaining of feeling tired and losing his appetite.

When his glands started to swell up, Fred visited his GP who, thankfully, referred him for immediate tests.

Louise said: “Within hours, we were called back to A&E where we told that it was leukaemia.

"He was immediately transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital to begin his treatment.”

Fred’s doctors tried several methods of treatment, at University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street.

These included chemotherapy, immunotherapy and Car T-cell Therapy, a new form of treatment that uses the body’s own cells by taking them out to transform in a lab before being put back in to fight the cancer.

Louise said: “Even though there were complications along the way, including a seizure and a positive COVID diagnosis, we continued to be hopeful that the new treatment would work where chemotherapy had failed.”

Despite the new treatment providing hope for his family, Fred passed away on May 3 2020, just nine months after his diagnosis.

Louise said that the money the fund raises will go towards helping CCLG find better, kinder and more effective treatments.

She said: “The money raised will fund research into finding new cures and treatment plans, which we hope will also be kinder to children, with less short and long-term side effects.

“We have set up the Don’t Look Down Fund in the hope that more children will get the chance to live the life they deserve.”

More details of the Halloween fundraiser, including how to donate and a list of activity suggestions, can be found here: bit.ly/2HAnc7RFind out more about Fred Bennett’s Don’t Look Down Fund by visiting: bit.ly/3dXR0Hb