Laura's legacy: awareness campaign 'catalyst' for nurse's tumour diagnosis

08 Aug 2023

Claudia Laird, 26, says she 'would not be here today' without an awareness campaign led by Laura Nuttall

Claudia said a card given to her mother at an event organised by the Nuttall family meant she recognised the symptoms. She was 24 when she first experienced blurred vision and became unsteady while walking.

Her mother Lynda-May said Laura's campaign had prompted her daughter to quickly seek medical help.

Claudia has since recovered and returned to her studies and recently qualified as a nurse.

She now works at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital on a cancer ward and said she wants to help other young people in a similar position to her, and she hopes to carry on Laura's work of raising awareness.

Laura's legacy

Campaigner Laura Nuttall was 19 when she was was given an initial prognosis of 12 months to live. 

But she went on to live much longer and worked her way through a bucket list of ambitions, including graduating from our University.

She died in May aged just 23, five years after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

Laura's mother Nicola said her daughter had sent out "thousands" of information cards which the family placed in doctors' surgeries, dentists and schools.

After her death, her mother revealed she had donated her brain for research as "the ultimate gift".

• You can read more on the BBC News website.
• BBC North West Tonight will be spotlighting Laura's legacy on their evening programme this week. BBC One - Breakfast [bbc.co.uk] (from 1:29:21) featured the work of the Manchester Brain Bank, which researches diseases like glioblastoma and played a crucial role in the recent British Neuro-Oncology Society Conference.

Image credit: BBC News