Kaz Melvin has paid a visit to Queen’s Hospital, alongside her parents Carol and Neil, to see how their £2,600 donation to the King George and Queen’s Hospital Charity was spent.

The donation was made in memory of their sister and daughter Ria, who died of an aggressive brain tumour (glioblastoma multiforme) in August 2021, aged just 25.

Ria was looked after by several of our teams at Queen’s Hospital in the two and a half years following her diagnosis, and the family donated the money in thanks for the great care she received. It was raised via a GoFundMe page, set up for her to have specialist treatment in Germany, which was sadly unsuccessful. The remaining money was donated across several charities.

Our money has been spent on a specialist shower chair for patients with limited mobility, which the family were able to see on their visit, when they also met again with staff who helped care for Ria.

Kaz, who previously worked as a neuro-physiotherapist at our Trust, said: ““We wanted to show our gratitude and appreciation to the staff who cared for Ria throughout her brain tumour journey. I can’t thank them enough for all their help.”

Carol added: “We hope the new shower chair improves other patients’ hospital experiences. Ria underwent lots of rehab, so I know how much of a difference this piece of specialist equipment will make.”

The family visited on a poignant day, Friday 29 September, which would have been Ria’s 28^th birthday.

Kaz is pictured above, far right, with her parents Carol and Neil (left and middle) and the shower chair, with a picture of Ria in the foreground.