Family’s community rallies for hope from cancer research

When the Lindner family generously requested donations to Hudson Institute’s paediatric brain cancer research in lieu of flowers after the passing of their daughter Jessica, their community rallied behind their wish.

Jessica sadly passed away in July at the age of 13 after a brave fight with a rare brain tumour. Messages of love and support for the family, celebrations of her beautiful spirit and how much she would be missed shone through in the comments that accompanied donations in her memory.

Together, to bring hope to other families who might find themselves in a similar situation, friends, family and colleagues of Susi and Luke Lindner raised close to $10,000 in support of further research into rare childhood cancers. A matching gift was generously provided by Invetech, Luke’s employer.

Brain cancer research – hope for families like theirs 

When asked what he hoped the donations would achieve, Jessica’s father Luke said, “By raising funds in Jessica’s name for this important research, we are hopeful that one day another family won’t have to lose a child to a similar disease.”

As a result of the nearly $20,000 raised, Hudson Institute will be able to purchase a digital microscope with computer software that allows us to recognise and analyse cancer cells grown from patients. It will also be a great tool for training PhD students, medical students and paediatric oncology research fellows in childhood brain cancer research.

To further acknowledge the beautiful life of Jessica and thank the family’s community of supporters, the new equipment will be unveiled with her family present in the lab at our Cancer Centre later this year, with a plaque dedicated to her memory.

Donations made in Jessica’s honour to benefit further research into cancer at here.