A grieving widow from Mottingham has backed the call to tackle underfunding of the cancer which kills more young adults and children than any other.

Wendy McMahon’s husband Glenn was 53 years old when he died from a brain tumour in June last year – just over a year after the couple married.

He had been diagnosed with an aggressive glioblastoma multiforme grade 4 after suffering co-ordination problems on the golf course.

Knowing their time together would be cut short in less than 18 months, the couple set out to make the most of their married life.

Mrs McMahon said being dealt the devastating diagnosis was like “being hit by a bus”.

She said: “We had begun to suspect Glenn might have motor neurone disease and never dreamt it would be a brain tumour.

“We had both been married before and, having found each other, now faced our future which was going to be cut short.”

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Sue Farrington Smith with the new report from Brain Tumour Research.

Now Mrs McMahon is calling for more funding into research of the disease, in a bid to give others a fighting chance of survival.

In a report published today by Brain Tumour Research, the charity addresses the historical underfunding which has plagued the disease and the damaging consequences of limited treatment options.

Mrs McMahon was among an army of activists from across the UK who worked with the charity to shine a light on the issues around brain tumours at Westminster Less than 10 per cent of people in the UK are aware that brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, the report revealed.

The new findings from the charity state that in 2015, brain tumour research represented just 1.37 per cent of national spend on cancer.

Meanwhile, government spend on brain tumour research represents just 0.52 per cent of its total spend on cancer, the report adds.

The report concludes: "At the current rate of spend, it could take 100 years for brain cancer to catch up with developments in other diseases and find a cure."

Sue Farrington Smith, Chief Executive of Brain Tumour Research, said: “For too long, brain tumours have been a neglected cancer.

“Tragic stories like Glenn’s remind us all that we cannot allow this desperate situation to continue.”