Natasha’s challenge in memory of best friend Caroline who was lost to brain cancer

Natasha Noll was in her first year of secondary school when she met her best friend Caroline. The pair grew up together in Newhaven and shared all the joys and tribulations of life over the more than 38 years they knew each other.

Sadly, Caroline was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM) – a highly aggressive brain tumour with a devastatingly poor prognosis of 12-18 months – after suffering a seizure whilst drumming in Brighton’s Pride parade in August 2017.

She underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and remained stable for years. However, a routine scan in April 2022 revealed Caroline had developed a second tumour.

The mum-of-three had another surgery followed by radiotherapy and chemo, but passed away in a hospice in June 2023. She was 49 years old.

Natasha, 49, from Pevensey, said: “It was really hard. We always thought she’d be fine but, when her second tumour was found, reality hit. She’d been quite well until then but there was a definite change after that, and it all happened really quickly. We were talking every day and then, all of a sudden, she started getting more confused.”

The mum-of-three added: “Caroline was a very positive person. She never moaned and was always really strong. She was more concerned about her kids than anything. They were her absolute world, and she was also very close to her sisters and partner. It still feels weird not having her around.”

In Caroline’s memory, and to honour her 50th birthday later this month, Natasha is taking part in the Brain Tumour Research charity’s 100 a Day Your Way challenge.

Participants are asked to do 100 reps of either squats, star jumps, sit ups, push ups, a plank, or a combination of all five exercises, every day in November.

Natasha, who is taking part with four of her and Caroline’s friendship group from school, said: “We wanted to do something as a friendship group, as it was coming up to Caroline’s birthday, to make people more aware of brain tumours and the lack of investment in research. Any pain we put ourselves through is nothing compared to what she went through.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “With one in three of us knowing someone affected by a brain tumour, Caroline’s story is, sadly, not unique. Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease since records began in 2002.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and 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.

To support Natasha’s fundraising, visit Natasha’s Facebook page: 100 a Day, Your Way in November.