Bereaved parents of an inspirational young woman from Bedfordshire have spoken of their “bittersweet” experience helping EastEnders with a hard-hitting brain tumour storyline.
Brain Tumour Research and Macmillan Cancer Support are working with the popular BBC One soap to ensure its storyline of character Lola Pearce’s brain tumour journey is portrayed as realistically and sensitively as possible.
As part of its involvement, this summer Brain Tumour Research invited Yasmin Stannard and Khuram Liaquat to meet with Danielle Harold, the actress who plays Lola.
The couple, from Luton, also met a team of producers, researchers and scriptwriters who were in the early stages of developing Lola’s brain tumour storyline and wanted to hear about their daughter Amani’s journey as a young woman who had glioblastoma (GBM).
Amani, a Masters student and first-class honours law graduate, received her terminal brain tumour diagnosis after collapsing at home on her 22nd birthday in April 2020.
After standard of care failed to stop the growth of her tumour, Amani’s family crowdfunded to source life-prolonging treatment abroad, raising more than £100,000 in 24 hours.
Amani fought her diagnosis bravely for 22 months, fundraising and campaigning for Brain Tumour Research throughout, but died in February at the age of 23.
Her efforts, and that of people she inspired to fundraise, saw almost £60,000 donated to Brain Tumour Research, as well as £40,000 her parents generously gifted to the charity from the remaining crowdfunding donations not used for her treatment.
Yasmin said: “We shared Amani’s story with Danielle and the team and tried to convey all the emotions behind our journey as best as we could. We were impressed by how dedicated EastEnders was at ensuring it covered the brain tumour storyline sensitively and accurately.
“The whole team seemed very moved and touched to hear about Amani and all that she went through.”
She added: “We arrived at the BBC studios in Elstree with a mixture of emotions. It was exciting to be given the opportunity but we knew we were only in that position due to the loss of our beloved daughter.
“We also knew how much Amani would have enjoyed the experience had she still been with us. She would have been so excited by the opportunity to raise awareness about brain cancer to a wider audience. It is bittersweet for us to be involved and watch the episodes without her by our side, but despite it all, we felt privileged to be even a small part of such an important storyline.
“We know millions of people watch EastEnders and the increased awareness the storyline will bring to brain cancer generally and glioblastoma specifically.”
Amani was the eldest of three daughters and her family has been following the Lola storyline ‘intently’ throughout.
Yasmin said: “It has stirred memories and emotions from our own journey. Danielle’s performance has been amazing and she has been able to accurately convey the fear, hope and despair of those early days.
“It is certainly a difficult watch at times and reminds us of all the difficult moments Amani had to endure, such as receiving her brain cancer diagnosis and undergoing brain surgery without us by her side due to COVID restrictions.
“Watching the reactions of Lola’s loved ones reminds us of our own and how our whole world literally fell apart and life as we knew it was lost forever from the moment of diagnosis.”
She added: “In a text recently, Danielle mentioned how she is keeping Amani and our family ‘very close to [her] heart’ as she performs each scene. I was so touched by her words and now watch with even more affection than before.
“Nothing can bring our dear Amani back but we do feel the storyline is honouring the traumatic journey she and other fellow fighters have endured. We never wanted to lose a child but if something positive can come from our loss then that helps soothe our wounds a little.”
Sue Castle-Smith, head of PR and communications for Brain Tumour Research, said: “Yasmin and Khuram showed great strength whilst reliving painful memories of Amani’s brain tumour diagnosis and treatment for the benefit of others.
“We’re very grateful to them for all they did and to EastEnders for involving us in this crucial storyline to raise awareness of brain tumours, which kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
“Increased awareness is vital as we campaign for the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more to improve outcomes for patients and, ultimately, find a cure.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the 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 and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.
To find out more about Brain Tumour Research, visit www.braintumourresearch.org.
