Nine-year-old girl fundraises after dad’s second diagnosis

A father-of-two from Partridge Green who was diagnosed with a brain tumour while undergoing treatment for another has inspired a fundraiser at his daughter’s school.
By Megan O’Neill
Published 2nd Mar 2022, 16:54 BST
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Daniel Calver was diagnosed with a brain tumour – a Grade 2 glioma – just one week after his 31st birthday in March 2018. He had experienced no symptoms before suffering an unconscious seizure, which lasted 11 minutes.

Daniel underwent an 11-hour awake craniotomy, after which he suffered temporary paralysis and became mute, requiring speech therapy.

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He went on to have 30 sessions of radiotherapy and after four sessions of chemotherapy, discovered he had another tumour.

Nine-year-old Sennen was inspired to fundraise at school following her dad's tumour diagnosisNine-year-old Sennen was inspired to fundraise at school following her dad's tumour diagnosis
Nine-year-old Sennen was inspired to fundraise at school following her dad's tumour diagnosis

Inspired by her father’s journey, nine-year-old Sennen has become an avid supporter of Brain Tumour Research and is enlisting the help of her peers at Jolesfield Primary School in Horsham.

The pupils will be raising money for the charity’s Wear a Hat Day, which takes places towards the end of Brain Tumour Awareness Month, on Friday, March 25.

The children will be selling merchandise from the charity, including wrist bands and pin badges as well as wearing a hat to school for a donation of £1.

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Natalie, Daniel’s wife and Sennen’s mother, said: “Her teachers love getting involved in Wear a Hat Day and think it’s hilarious to wear funny hats. You’ve got to try to find the fun with these things to make it more light-hearted because the lack of funds for research is ridiculous and few people realise just how many people it affects; Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just one per cent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to the disease.”

Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re really impressed with Sennen for getting her whole school to take part in Wear a Hat Day and hope that she, her fellow pupils and her teachers have a lot of fun participating in the fundraiser.”

Now in its 13th year, Wear A Hat Day has raised more than £2 million for Brain Tumour Research.

To support Sennen, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sennen-wahd

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