Stuart’s story
Stuart Steel was described by many as quite simply ‘A Legend’. Not only was he a son, a brother and an uncle but he was first and forth most a caring and fantastic father to two great kids aged just 3 and 12 years at the time of his passing. He was an incredibly strong person who showed extreme bravery and courage throughout his whole life.
Stu was first diagnosed with a medulloblastoma brain tumour in July 2004 in the posterior fossa area of his brain (the bit above the neck) after complaining of headaches and dizziness. He was just 25 years old. Stu first had major brain surgery to remove it and then had 6 weeks of radiotherapy to his head and spine followed by a year of chemotherapy. He was left extremely weak by the treatment but gradually over time began to recover and live life to the full again. He went on to get married in May 2006 and in September 2010 against all the odds and after failed IVF his daughter Scarlett was born, a younger sister to his son Logan.
“We hope that by raising money to help fund research into brain tumours maybe one day we might be a step closer to finding a cure and something good can come out of this devastating loss”
Stu remained well but then in March 2011 after going for a routine scan another tumour was discovered. He had yet more brain surgery in May 2011 to remove it followed by another 6 weeks of radiotherapy. Stu once again showed the world just how tough he was by being so determined to carry on with life as normal and shortly after finishing treatment he went back to work.
At the end of December 2012 Stu began feeling unwell again and a scan showed that the tumour had returned for the third time. He had a course of chemotherapy but this time round it was not possible for Stu to have surgery to remove the tumour as it was found to have spread to multiple parts of the brain. The chemotherapy did however start to shrink the tumours a little and Stu was able to have a good few months and even managed to go and see the Formula One at Silverstone (Stu was a huge fan of formula one). But eventually he began to get weaker and more tired and sadly passed away on 9 October 2013 at home surrounded by his family, just 3 days after his 34th birthday.
Stu had a brilliant sense of humour and would often make light of everything he went through, this was his way of helping others to deal with what was happening. You see he was always more concerned about everyone else around him and was always telling people not to worry. He could make anyone laugh at anything and this is what made him so loved and shall be what makes him so dearly missed.
Through everything Stuart endured, all the treatment he went through and the pain he must have felt at times, he never once complained about how unfair life was. It is because of this amazing strength he showed us all that we decided to create this fund to honour his memory. We hope that by raising money to help fund research into brain tumours maybe one day we might be a step closer to finding a cure and something good can come out of this devastating loss.