A Smart way to keep Rose’s memory alive

Aug 25 2007 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post

A bereaved father has found an unusual way of fundraising as a tribute to his daughter. Emma Johnson reports

CLUTCHING her degree certificate and smiling for the camera, Rose McGill looks the picture of health – a woman looking forward to a bright future.

She is 22, has just graduated from university, and is engaged to a fantastic fiancé.

However, what the camera does not show is that Rose has cancer and within a month of this picture being taken, the aspiring jewellery designer had lost her fight for life.

Three years earlier and just about to start her degree course in jewellery design at Liverpool Hope University, Rose, from Moreton, Wirral, had been diagnosed as having epilepsy and a benign Grade Two brain tumour.

However, at the time a decision was made to leave the tumour alone, to treat the epilepsy that it was causing and allow Rose to complete her degree. She continued with her studies.

But just as Rose neared the end of her course and should have been celebrating and making plans for her future, her symptoms worsened.

Investigations showed the tumour had progressed to a Grade Four Glioblastoma Multiforme – the most common and aggressive of brain tumours.

Rose underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Clatterbridge Hospital, in Wirral, but, sadly, just five months after her surgery, she passed away on Saturday, November 11, last year.

“We knew she had the brain tumour,” explains Rose’s friend, Natalya Jagger.

“It was assumed to be benign, then in June last year she was diagnosed with the Grade Four tumour and given 18 months to live – she lived for five.

“At the end of May, she handed in her dissertation and she had a seizure the next day. They said the tumour was active and growing so they took her into hospital to remove it. She had radiotherapy and chemotherapy and managed to go to her graduation, but a week later she went into hospital, completely paralysed down her right side.

“On the Friday night, she suffered a heart attack and they brought her back but she passed away on the Saturday.”

Her death so young was a devastating blow to her family and friends.

“Rose was a very talented girl,” says her father, Andrew McGill, who now lives in Norwich.

“She was bubbly and clever and, if she was in the room, you knew that she was there. I could not believe that someone so young could be known and liked by so many people.

“She loved her art and designing her jewellery and was very talented at it. She and Steve had been together since she was 16, and everything was going well for her.

“I think she had a goal of completing her degree and going to her graduation and that was the greatest day.” Devastated at having Rose taken from them so young, Andrew and Natalya have taken it upon themselves to raise money in her name for Clatterbridge Cancer Campaign as she received her treatment at the Wirral hospital.

The pair are hoping to raise £5,000 and have already raised over £3,500, through an auction and an online quiz.

This weekend, they are taking to the roads of Britain as participants in the Britball Rally – a two-day treasure hunt meets road rally across the British Isles.

The pair were due to set off this morning from the Heritage Motor Centre, outside Warwick, and expect to cover more than 1,000 miles before they cross the finishing line.

And to put the fun into the fundraising, the pair will be driving in Andrew’s Smart Roadster Brabus Coupé and wearing “smart” attire – Natalya in a ballgown and Andrew in top hat and tails – hence their team name – “Team SMARTies”.

“The Britball Rally started two years ago,” explains Natalya, 27, from Leeds. “It is not a race. It is all about your mileage. At the start of the rally, they will give us the next destination that we have to get to and also a list of things that we have to collect along the way.

“There will then be about four or five checkpoints, but the rally can go absolutely anywhere. The last two races have gone up into the Scottish highlands.

“Only when you come into a checkpoint will you learn where the next one is.

“Then at the end of each day, you come in and they check your mileage you have done and what items you have picked up.

“You get one point for each mile and 20 points for each item you collect and those points are deducted from your mileage points.

“The person with the lowest score wins a trophy.”

Natalya, a former trainer for call centre staff, was herself recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and is unable to drive, so instead will be taking on navigational duties – with the aid of a couple of satellite navigation systems – while Andrew is the Team SMARTies driver.

And the pair have promised to keep their formal attire on for as long as the rally takes.

“People are sponsoring us to take part.

“I think my friends are doing it because they don’t believe that I will wear a dress for three days,” laughs Natalya.

“I am usually more a jeans type of girl. I am quite nervous, but I think Andrew is quite excited.”

For Andrew, taking part in the race in his Smart Roadster carries a sentimental link to his daughter, who sadly never got to see his car, but who thought it was great when he bought it.

Andrew adds: “If she were here, I think Rose would have wanted to be the navigator. She would have loved it.”

FOR more information on Team Smarties and the Britball Rally, or to make a donation, visit www.rosemcgill.co.uk

emmajohnson