Two Leeds lawyers have helped buy a vital piece of equipment to help children with brain tumours

Successful Yorkshire lawyers Marilyn and Grahame Stowe have recently made a major donation to Leeds Cares, the charity partner of Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The donation of just over £26,000 was used to purchase life-changing ultrasound navigation software for use in the new advanced digital paediatric neurosurgery theatre at Leeds Children’s Hospital.
Yorkshire lawyers Marliyn and Grahame Stowe with paediatric surgeon John Goodden.Yorkshire lawyers Marliyn and Grahame Stowe with paediatric surgeon John Goodden.
Yorkshire lawyers Marliyn and Grahame Stowe with paediatric surgeon John Goodden.

Leeds-based Marilyn and Grahame Stowe have each had huge success with their business ventures. Marilyn built her company Stowe Family Law from a single shop to the UK’s largest specialist family law firm and Grahame founded his law firm, Grahame Stowe Bateson in 1981, whilst also acting as a part-time judge. Marilyn led the company for over 30 years – whilst achieving major accolades as a leading figure in the legal industry – before selling the firm in 2017.

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The large donation was made to Leeds Cares earlier in the year after Marilyn was inspired by a documentary on children’s cancer. Marilyn said: “We wanted to help so we got in touch with Leeds Cares. The process was very swift and now it is in place, our thoughts are for the children being treated and we wish them a speedy recovery.”

Marilyn and Grahame visited the hospital to meet with senior staff at Leeds Children’s Hospital and learn how their donation has made a huge difference to the care being offered to children undergoing complex brain tumour surgery.

The BrainLAB integration software purchased by the donation dramatically enhances the capabilities of the existing operating theatre. It enables the neurosurgical team to integrate a specialised ultrasound system, allowing them to judge the progress of tumour surgery and avoiding the need to repeatedly stop the procedure to perform MRI scans. The equipment allows for live intraoperative imaging, leading to improved efficiency and a better outcome for patients having brain tumour surgery.

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Consultant paediatric neurosurgeon, John Goodden, said: “I used the new BrainLAB ultrasound integration for the first time while operating on a young patient with a malignant brain tumour. It made a huge difference to the surgery.

“This is a very important advance which will help us identify residual tumour and maximise the extent of resection – which will improve outcomes and survival.”

Charity partner

As charity partner of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Leeds Cares brings caring people together to inspire change.

Its priorities include 
investing in equipment 
and environmental improvements, funding and delivering health and 
wellbeing initiatives; and supporting projects in research, innovation and health education.

For more information about the charity visit www.leeds-cares.org

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