Daring doctors complete canoe challenge in memory of friend lost to a brain tumour

A GP from Cheshire has paddled 115 miles (185km) from Birmingham to Manchester in a canoe, in memory of a dear friend who died from a rare brain tumour.

Dr Danny Magona, 35, from Northwich, and his fellow doctor friend, anaesthetist Dr Tim Molitor, 31, from Solihull, completed the gruelling five-day trip yesterday <22 July> to raise money for Brain Tumour Research. The duo were inspired to raise funds after their friend and fellow medic Aria Nikjooy lost his life to a medulloblastoma in February 2021. 

Setting off on Sunday 18 July, their route took them from the University of Birmingham Medical School, where the trio met, to Manchester, where Aria lived with his wife Naomi and their toddler, Eliyas. Aria worked as a paediatrician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Tim, who works at University Hospital Coventry, said: “It feels amazing to have completed the challenge. The last five days have been physically and mentally exhausting. The canoe has taken a bit of a beating, through the 102 locks we’ve had to navigate.

“I feel proud of what we have achieved and it was certainly an emotional end to the trip, when we arrived at Deansgate to see Aria’s family waiting for us and cheering us over the finish line.”

Danny and Tim’s impressive journey took them from Birmingham Medical school to Manchester City Centre, via Wolverhampton, Great Haywood, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield. The pair endured searing heat en route, canoeing up to 11 hours a day in temperatures as high as 30 degrees Celsius. They paddled for a total of 47 hours over the course of the challenge, disembarking the canoe at Merchant’s Bridge in Deansgate, where they were presented with medals by three-year-old Eliyas.

Danny, who works at Earnswood Medical Centre in Crewe, said: “We were humbled by the support we received and the fact that we have raised more than £4,000 for Brain Tumour Research. Our trip highlighted the massive importance of this charity, as so often we met strangers, who had also been affected by this terrible disease.”

Aria was diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2018 and went through surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to try to keep his tumour at bay. Then, in March 2020, the same brain tumour came back and he had a second brain surgery. Devastatingly, a second recurrence came in July 2020, resulting in another brain operation and more cancer treatment.

As part of his rehabilitation, Aria turned to writing. This culminated in him publishing a children’s fiction book to help explain the complex issues surrounding illness and cancer to his little boy, Eliyas. The story, Eddie and the Magic Healing Stone is available to purchase on Amazon, with proceeds going to Brain Tumour Research, Royal Medical Foundation, Royal Medical Benevolent Fund, and Society for Assistance of Medical Families.

Danny added: “We are incredibly proud that we had the chance to promote Aria’s legacy. His story of positivity and resilience touched everyone we met. It is of great importance that we continue to get the word out about his brilliant book and how it is a brilliant tool in describing a serious health issue to children.”

Aria also wrote an autobiography, or memoir, which is a devastating but witty tale of his thoughts and feelings when dealing with – as he called it – his ‘Broken Brain’.

Tim, who is about to start a six-month secondment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, said: “Reading Aria’s book ‘Broken Brain – Brutally Honest, Brutally Me’, was truly inspiring. It really emulates Aria’s amazing personality and wicked sense of humour, whilst somehow tackling some really serious and, at times, upsetting topics. Reading it provided us with extra motivation and inspiration to put ourselves through such a tough challenge.”

Danny added: “Aria’s memoir was an inspiration to us both on and off the canoe. It teaches you life is precious and fragile but the most important thing is to be the best version of yourself you can be, despite what life throws at you. We took that into our challenge and felt privileged to be paddling with Aria’s name and photo on our boat. He was an amazing friend and an incredibly talented man, taken too soon.”

Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

Danny said: “Raising awareness for Brain Tumour Research is incredibly important. With such limited treatments in this area and poor prognosis from diagnosis with many types of brain tumour, this disease can rip families apart. We hope by contributing to the fundraising effort we can do our bit to help improve the situation and prevent this happening to other families in the future.”

Matthew Price, Brain Tumour Research’s Community Development Manager, said: “We are so grateful to Tim and Danny for taking on this huge challenge to raise money to help find a cure for brain tumours. Having set out to raise £2,000 for Brain Tumour Research, they’ve more than doubled that amount and made a huge contribution to the vital work we do. We congratulate them on their achievement.

“Aria’s tragic story reminds us that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone, at any time. What’s more, unlike most other cancers, incidences of and deaths from brain tumours are rising. We cannot allow this devastating situation to continue.”

Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. It also campaigns for the Government and the 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 calling 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 and is also campaigning for greater repurposing of drugs.

To make a donation to Brain Tumour Research via Danny and Tim’s fundraising page, please visit:

www.gofundme.com/f/canoeing-for-aria-nikjooy

Brain Tumour Research is the only national charity in the UK singularly focused on finding a cure for brain tumours through campaigning for an increase in the national investment into research to £35 million per year, while fundraising to create a sustainable network of brain tumour research centres in the UK.

The £35 million a year funding would bring parity with other cancers such as breast and leukaemia after historically just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours. This increased commitment would enable the ground-breaking research needed to accelerate the translation from laboratory discoveries into clinical trials and fast-track new therapies for this devastating disease. 

Brain Tumour Research is a powerful campaigning organisation and represents the voice of the brain tumour community across the UK. We helped establish and provide the ongoing Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Brain Tumours (APPGBT) which published its report Brain Tumours A cost too much to bear? in 2018. Led by the charity, the report examines the economic and social impacts of a brain tumour diagnosis.

We are also a lead player on the Steering Group for the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. 

We welcome the 2018 funding announcements for research into brain tumours from the UK Government and Cancer Research UK – £65 million pledged over five years. However, this potential funding of £13 million a year comes with a catch – money will only be granted to quality research proposals and, due to the historic lack of investment, there may not be enough of these applications that qualify for grants from this pot. We are working through the APPGBT to hold the government to account and ensure this money is spent on research into brain tumours.

Key statistics on brain tumours:

• Brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age
• Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer
• Historically, just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours
• In the UK, 16,000 people each year are diagnosed with a brain tumour
• Brain tumours kill more children than leukaemia
• Brain tumours kill more men under 70 than prostate cancer
• Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast cancer
• Less than 20% of those diagnosed with a brain tumour survive beyond five years compared with an average of 50% across all cancers.

Pictured - Danny Magona and Tim Moliter who had to navigate more than 60 locks.