Music festival set to raise funds for further research into incurable disease

29th April 2019

The family of a man who died from incurable blood cancer less than two years after diagnosis are staging a fundraising festival for Sheffield Hospitals Charity to help fund research into the disease.

Russ Ward, aged 37, from Thorpe Hesley is holding a one day festival charity event called -MiniSession at Southbank Warehouse to raise money for the charity's ongoing Myeloma Appeal and in memory of his fatherin-law, Michael Brooke who passed away in February last year. Michael was diagnosed in April 2016 after he went to his local GP because he had pain in his rib, but a bone marrow biopsy later confirmed he had myeloma. Michael then underwent numerous treatments including another biopsy, chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant before he relapsed in March 2017 and passed away soon after aged 60. Russ said: -Once you've been told it's myeloma, there's no cure for it, some people live a lot longer than Michael up to 5-10 years, but once you have the diagnosis it's always on your mind that you're going to lose them one day. -But his care was amazing from start to finish, the staff at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital did an amazing job. -When Michael was in remission, myself and his daughter, Claire got married because she wanted to make sure that Michael was well enough to walk her down the aisle. We planned a music festival for the wedding with bands and everyone kept telling us we should do it again. -Music was a massive part of Michael's life, he used to DJ and do karaoke, we even went to see Phil Collins when he was poorly, so it made sense to do something music related. The fundraising festival includes local bands At The Arcade, The Zeroes and Jungle Lion as well as DJ's from across the country. The event will be held from 2pm on the 5th May at the Southbank Warehouse in Sheffield. Tickets are £20 in advance and can be purchased from http://skiddle.com/e/13472753 all proceeds will be used to fund research into myeloma. Supporters of Sheffield Hospitals Charity have already raised £90,000 but Dr Chantry and his team of researchers now want to raise a further funds to discover new ways to eliminate myeloma cancerous cells and test new drugs which doctors believe will help to accelerate the arrival of new and effective treatments. To donate, visit www.sheffieldhospitalscharity.org.uk/appeal/cure-myeloma