A Buckinghamshire couple who lost two family members to brain tumours have decorated their house in Christmas lights to raise awareness of the disease.
Teresa and Jason Smith from Vandyke Close in Woburn Sands switched on their festive woodland lights display on Sunday (24 November) to a crowd of family and friends having battled Storm Bert to add finishing touches.
People are invited to visit the illuminations, on display until 1 January (2025) and encouraged to donate to the charity Brain Tumour Research.
Fifty-seven-year-old Teresa who works at Woburn Sands Emporium provided the hot chocolate and mulled wine on the night after a week-long effort by her husband Jason, who put up more than 20 sets of lights.
Teresa said: “The weather has been awful, but we managed to turn the lights on as planned. Some of the decorations such as the sweet cart, which was new for this year, fell over at 6:30am due to the wind but we quickly secured it. This year we chose a woodland and animal theme for our display, inspired by the animals in The Snowman and Jason worked very hard on the build.”
As well as woodland animals, this year’s display also features a holographic Father Christmas and a snow machine.
It comes just two months after Teresa’s father-in-law, Dave Smith from Plymouth, died of a glioblastoma (GBM) after he was diagnosed two years ago.
The philanthropic couple began spreading Christmas cheer in this way eight years ago following the death of Teresa’s eldest sister, Sue Hughes, who died just three weeks after she was diagnosed with a GBM in November 2015. She was 55.
Teresa said: “Both Sue and Dave loved Christmas. Dave always loved to see pictures of the house lit up and my sister loved penguins, so we always make sure we have lots of those in the display.”
Teresa has raised more than £2,500 for the charity and last year took part in the Brain Tumour Research Cycle 274 Challenge despite waiting for a knee operation.
She said: “It’s as if we are in this surreal nightmare to have lost two relatives to this horrible disease. Sue and Dave were older, but brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer and that’s just something I can’t comprehend.
“If there was more research into brain tumours, maybe Sue would have had more time. That requires money, which is why we do what we do for Brain Tumour Research.”
One in three people knows someone affected by a brain tumour, just under 13% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 54% across all cancers.
Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Sue and Dave’s story is a stark reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age. We’re grateful to Teresa for sharing their story and for supporting the charity year after year through a wide range of our challenges and events. We can’t wait to see the full display this year.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and 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.
To donate to Brain Tumour Research via Teresa and Jason’s Christmas lights display, please visit: www.justgiving.com/page/teresa-smith-1732260537781
- A barn owl
- A street lamp with red bow
- Close up of a bird
- Father Christmas and reindeer
- Fox, mushrooms and rabbit
- Hedgehogs on the tree trunk
- New for this year a sweet cart
- Penguins were Sue's favourite
- Siblings Teresa Smith and Sue Hughes
- Sue Hughes
- Sue with a penguin ornament
- Teresa Smith and her father-in-law Dave Long on Plymouth Hoe
- Teresa Smith
