Girl finds 14,000 namesakes for charity
BBCA schoolgirl undergoing treatment for a brain tumour has raised more than £100,000 for charity by finding 14,000 people who share her name.
Kirsty, 12, from Tunbridge Wells, launched the campaign after being diagnosed with a brain tumour in November 2024 when she began losing her eyesight and memory.
Her search has connected fellow Kirsties in 50 countries and helped raise money for Oscar's Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity.
She said she has been "finding all the Kirsties I can" and was "hoping to find many more".
A "Wall of Kirsties" at her Kent home features three large posters covered in photographs of people sharing her first name, while thousands more have added themselves to a map on her website.
Kirsty said she chose Oscar's because it supports whole families, including brothers and sisters who can sometimes feel overlooked while a child is being treated.
"We first knew about Oscars when, a couple months before we chose them, they sent these booster boxes to my two older sisters, and it was full of the most lovely things," she said.
"My elder sister likes to cook, so they sent her a cookbook and an apron, and my other sister likes to do nails, so they sent her a nail set, and they sent them quilts and teddies, and so many lovely things that they love to do."
Her father, Matt, said the fundraising effort was even more remarkable because it had continued alongside chemotherapy, hospital appointments and ongoing treatment.
In December 2025, doctors told the family her original treatment had stopped working and that she would need a new course lasting a further 85 weeks.
"We're well over £200,000 that she's raised towards children's cancer charities and she does all this while going through chemotherapy, awaiting treatments and going to hospital appointments," he said.
"It's a phenomenal achievement for anybody of any age, let alone a 12-year-old."
Before launching the search for fellow Kirsties, she raised about £120,000 by crocheting a bunting pennant for each week of an initial 56-week course of chemotherapy.
The Brain Tumor Charity says brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under 40, yet accounts for just 1% of cancer research funding.
Kirsty said she hoped the money would help fund research and improve treatment options for future patients.
"Every penny is spent on research," she said.
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