Frank’s Fund
Raising vital funds for life saving research into Ewing sarcoma.
Frank's Story
Frank loved so much about life. Family and friends were the most important things to him. He loved all the simple things that every 14 year old boy enjoys - sleepovers with friends where they forced themselves to stay up all night, eating buckets of sweets and watching horror movies, playing in the park, kicking a ball, going to the cinema. And then there was Nando’s. Frank loved a Nando’s with his mates.
Frank loved his sport too. He showed great potential at golf and tennis as well as football, swimming and netball. He was really looking forward to starting basketball at secondary school. He was an avid Chelsea supporter and often saw them play. They never lost when Frank was there so he decided that he was definitely their lucky mascot.
From a very young age Frank loved theatre. He loved watching live shows. He was intuitive beyond his years, loving plays and TV dramas that we never thought he’d understand or sit through. He was often the youngest person in the theatre but always one of the most engaged.
In April 2016, just as Frank was looking forward to the next phase in his life at secondary school, our world collapsed when he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a form of bone cancer. He was just 11 years old.
The next 12 months was tougher for Frank than anything we could ever have imagined: 14 exhausting cycles of chemotherapy, 2 months of proton therapy in the US and an horrific 8 hour operation to remove the tumour and a substantial part of his pelvis.
We knew we had to be strong for Frank but it worked the other way round too. His positivity, resilience and amazing character kept us all going through some very tough times.
His raw courage in learning to walk again after his operation and the way he quietly got about rebuilding his life and getting back to school were awe inspiring.
Then in September 2017, after just 5 months in remission, we found out the disease had returned. Frank was confronted with further endless cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with just a tiny chance that it could cure him. Somehow he found the strength to keep going and the spirit to remain cheerful. He just wanted to behave and be treated like any other teenage boy. If anyone asked him how he was feeling they always received the same answer, ‘I’m good thanks’, accompanied by a huge grin.
We enjoyed a brilliant Christmas together but by the middle of January 2019 Frank’s health was failing fast. Our beautiful boy’s short life ended on 9th February 2019. We are left devastated but immensely proud.
Ewing sarcoma most commonly affects children and young adults aged 10-25 years old and makes up about 1.5% of all childhood cancers. A child, teenager or adult is diagnosed with primary bone cancer every 10 minutes somewhere in the world, but primary bone cancer received just 0.027% of funding from the major UK cancer charities in 2020/21. Treatment protocols are out of date and gruelling. It’s a scandal that the lack of investment means that neither treatment nor survival rates have improved in over 30 years and that there’s so little chance of survival if it returns.
Frank would never have wanted any child to suffer as he suffered. If his death is to have any meaning at all, it needs to be to help people who are diagnosed in the future by raising funds that can be invested in much needed research.
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News
'Togetherness' ethos at Bettys leads to fundraising success
Charity Corner: research in memory of ‘brave and funny’ Frank
Harrogate estate agents backing ‘Franks Fund’ in memory of 14-year-old boy
Harrogate charity Frank’s Fund moves comedy night online
Yorkshire family's tribute to teenage son to combat 'scandal' over cancer funding
'For Frank' - Harrogate school's moving tribute to much-missed student
Knaresborough fundraiser for Frank’s Fund
Frank’s Fund raises over £300,000 for vital research into Ewing sarcoma
Cycling the Julian Alps for Frank's Fund
Research
New funding scheme launched to offer additional support of ongoing clinical trials
New international clinical trial for Ewing sarcoma patients
Bone Cancer Research Trust funds EURO EWING Consortium
Research finds marker to predict prognosis in Ewing sarcoma
Can we provide a scientific basis to enable personalised treatments for Ewing sarcoma patients?
The Bone Cancer Research Trust is the largest funder of primary bone cancer research in the UK
Q&A with Professor Aykut Üren about our newly awarded and first ever international Ewing sarcoma research project
Fundraising Pages
Our son Frank and our fundraising…
Text BCRT FRANK TO 70800 to give £5
*Text donation costs the donation amount + standard network rate. Frank’s Fund will receive 100% of your donation.
You can make a donation or pay in funds raised by cheque, payable to Bone Cancer Research Trust, to Bone Cancer Research Trust, 10 Feast Field, Horsforth, Leeds, LS18 4TJ. Please ensure you make it clear that the donation is for Frank’s Fund so that your donation is allocated to the correct fund.
100% of donations to Frank’s Fund will go to Ewing sarcoma research.
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