Kirsty, 11, seeks more Kirstys to help raise money for brain tumour research | Kent
Calling all Kirstys! A schoolgirl from Tunbridge Wells in Kent is looking for people sharing her name to help her raise money for research into pediatric brain tumors like the one she is being treated for.
Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already persuaded more than 10,000 Kirstys, Kirsties, Kersties and various other variations to plot their locations on a map which shows Kirstys can be found everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia, and even at the Rothera Research Station in Antarctica.
Kirsty and her father, Mat, hope to find many more, to raise awareness and funds for an area of cancer treatment that is widely considered underfunded.
“We thought: why not ask people called Kirsty because they’re the best people, because it’s the best name,” she said.
Her father, a children’s author, added: “If you think you share the same name as Kirsty, then you are very, very welcome on the map. »
“We have a few Kirstens. We have Kurstie with a U, Kerstie with an E. There’s even a guy called Alan who declared himself Kirsty to show his support. His name was Alan, spelled KIRSTY.”
Both men say other non-Kirstys are also welcome to stand up in solidarity, without the need to change their name.
Kirsty Waugh is undergoing chemotherapy to shrink a large tumor discovered in her brain in 2024, after losing much of her vision for several weeks during her final year of primary school. Although the tumor is benign, its size and location mean it cannot be removed and could cause significant problems if it continues to grow.
Her chemotherapy treatment – now in its second round after an initial drug proved ineffective – is “really difficult”, she said. “I feel sick, tired and out of breath. Obviously there are kids who are in much worse situations than me and are getting much worse treatment.”
Kirsty added that raising money for charity has been a welcome distraction. “By telling my story this way and raising money, I think it made it easier for me to get through it,” she said.
Last year, when she was looking for a new fundraising challenge, she thought: “Who should I tell about this? Who haven’t I already talked to about this? And it was Kirstys.”
After his daughter reached Kirstys’ limit among the family’s immediate friends and neighbors, Mat developed the interactive map to broadcast the appeal globally. The Kirstys are not required to donate money to pledge their support, and donations are welcome from anyone, whatever their name.
“When you look through the JustGiving page it’s quite comical because the donations are all from Kirstys,” he said of an appeal which has raised more than £75,000 so far. “Sounds like a glitch in the matrix.”
As well as this welcome distraction, the family feels determined to raise funds as Kirsty’s condition is relatively manageable at the moment, Mat added.
“We feel like we’re in a unique position to be able to tell the story of a very, very serious diagnosis, but with a good amount of energy and the ability to continue a normal life as it is right now,” he said. “If we don’t tell this story, then it will be left to people who are in much worse situations. »
As for what’s so great about being a Kirsty? “I always liked being called Kirsty because it’s not the most common name,” she said. “There are no longer as many of us as there were 50 years ago.
“We found so many cool Kirstys. We had some pilot Kirstys, nurses and surgeons. So many cool, interesting Kirsties.”
