Stephen Webb: Family of teacher battling brain tumour 'overwhelmed' as fundraiser smashes target
The family of a Leicestershire teacher diagnosed with a brain tumour have said they are “overwhelmed” after a fund-raiser to pay for private treatment that could extend his life smashed through its target. Stephen Webb, from Burbage, near Hinckley, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in August.
A fund-raiser with a goal of raising £150,000 for immunotherapy injections was set up on Friday, September 13. In the few days since then, it has raised more than £156,000. Stephen's sister-in-law, Sacha Johnson, who organised the fund-raiser, said: “I would like to say, 'thank you', to everybody that has followed this story, invested in it and helped us to achieve this target.
“Every ounce of support and love, we are so overwhelmed, rallying together to make the impossible possible. The money that we raised ensures that Stephen has a year's worth of treatment.” Stephen, a dad-of-two, suffered a seizure in his living room on Wednesday, August 7, and was immediately taken to hospital, where an MRI later that night showed a mass on his left temporal lobe.
READ MORE: 'Save our Stephen' event for 'incredibly inspirational' Leicestershire teacher diagnosed with cancer
Stephen is the co-head of English at Hastings High School, in Burbage. Co-headteacher at the school, Claire Bradley, said Stephen was “definitely not just a teacher”. She said: “He is incredibly inspirational and invests fully into the children. He goes out of his way to know every pupil.
“He understands what they are going through, what will engage them, what interests them. He will give up his breaks at lunch and after school to be there for any pupil or colleague that needs him.
“We have got all of our Hastings family, both past and present, wanting to make a difference.” Pupils and staff at Hastings High School gathered in the shape of an ‘SOS’ on the school field last week as part of their ‘Save our Stephen’ campaign.
Find Stephen's fund-raiser at gofundme by searching 'Treatment for Glioblastoma'.
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