Laurie Engel, the son of journalist and editor of Wisden Matthew Engel, died last September at the age of 13. He died of a rare cancer and after 17 months of treatment. Matthew Engel's account of Laurie's illness and his fight against it can be read here.
The Engel family have now set up the Laurie Engel Fund:
Laurie was treated at the Birmingham Children's Hospital, the childhood cancer centre for much of England. The Engel family found the medical care there world-class, but the facilities and surroundings dismal. The hospital staff are also desperate to improve things.Please make a donation (see the link at the top of the page for the four ways you can contribute).The Fund is working with Teenage Cancer Trust and the hospital to ensure that future patients have better conditions than Laurie did. The short-term plan is to rebuild the existing cancer ward by 2007. A completely new cancer department, including a state of the art TCT unit, is planned within the decade.
The Engels hope Laurie's fund will make a large contribution to both these projects, which will brighten the lives of sick teenagers. They think Laurie would be proud.