About Us
The Karen Ingram Foundation was established in 2008 and was setup in memory of Karen Jane Ingram, a mother of two from Portsmouth who sadly passed away from Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer in July of that year, aged just 40.
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Originally intended as a one-off event to raise money for The Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth which cared and looked after Karen whilst she was ill, our first fundraising event was held at The Eastleigh Lakeside Steam Railway in Hampshire on Tuesday 26th August 2008 and raised over £3,500 for the hospital.
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Following the success of our first event and driven with determination to keep Karen's memory alive, we have continued raising money for a variety of local good causes, primarily those that benefitted cancer patients and their families.
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In 2020 we became a registered charity in our own right with a focus on raising awareness and improving survival rates into the blood cancer Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
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"Your generosity means that we can continue to invest in life-saving diagnostics and treatments for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma."
Jo Donahoe - Centre For Cancer Immunology
Beneficiaries
Some of the causes that we have been honoured to work with over the years include; The Rocky Appeal, Portsmouth Hospitals Charity, Hampshire Autistic Society, Cancer Research UK and The Southampton Centre For Cancer Immunology.
About Karen
Karen's battle against Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma started in 2007 when she began to experience stomach pains.
Tragically she was initially misdiagnosed with a stomach ulcer, and so did not discover she had
the disease for a further two months.
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She underwent a lifesaving operation when her bowel perforated on her return home from Queen Alexandra
Hospital in Portsmouth where she was being treated, after two gruelling five-day bouts of chemotherapy.
But she pulled through after surgeons removed two tumours the size of lemons from her bowel.
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Karen restarted chemotherapy in February 2008 and was delighted when, during a break in treatment,
her family organised a surprise trip for her to Disneyland Paris to celebrate her 40th birthday.
Karen was really happy , she was so surprised and didn't have a clue about the trip. Although it was clear she was struggling a bit and got tired easily, she kept a brave face for her two young sons and definitely enjoyed herself and the family were hopeful that she was going to be all right.
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But on her return scans showed the cancer had returned. Her bowel perforated a second time and the surgeons said there was nothing more they could do.
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Karen died at The Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth in the early hours of Sunday 13th July 2008, she was 40 years old.