THE family of a young man who lost his battle against two brain tumours have fulfilled his dying wish by setting up a charity in his name.

The Reece Hawley Foundation, which launches next month, will provide grants for holidays and equipment for young people suffering, or recovering, from cancer.

Reece Hawley, 21, died in October at St Luke’s Hospice, Basildon, surrounded by friends and family after unsuccesfully trying to fight off the tumours when NHS funding for the cancer drug, Avastin, was withdrawn.

With the support of the Echo, friends, family and strangers raised £74,000 to allow Reece to undergo two courses of treatment, but he could not pull through.

Reece’s aunt, Jacqui Marable, said the charity would help those families in similar situations.

She said: “The one thing Reece had before he died was two weeks in Cornwall with his family, which was donated.

“Those were memories you cannot take away. Sometimes it is not all about the person who is ill – it is also about the family unit. It is a way of getting them all away from the stresses of hospital appointments and treatment.

“We will be registering with hospices so they can identify the people in the greatest need.”

Echo:

Reece,a former pupil at Woodlands School, in Basildon, and a South Essex College student, was healthy until he had a bleed on the brain in 2013.

After six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, his family thought he was on the mend, but Reece was given the devastating news doctors had found two tumours on the day he was due to be discharged.

Despite undergoing the Avastin treatment, his tumours did not shrink quickly enough.

Jacqui said: “The charity was his final wish and it is great to get to this stage.’’

The foundation launch takes place at the Edge, Basildon, on May 2. For more information, search for the Reece Hawley Foundation on Facebook.