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 with the same name to help Raising money for research into pediatric brain tumors like the person he is receiving treatment for.
Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already convinced more than 10,000 Kirsty, Kirsties, Kersties and various other variants. mark their location on the map This means Kirstys can be found everywhere from Colombia to Malaysia and even at the Rothera research station in Antarctica.
Kirsty and her dad Mat hope to track down, raise awareness and funds for many more. An area of cancer treatment that is considered under-resourced.
“We thought: why don’t we ask people named Kirsty because they’re the nicest people, because it’s the best name,” she said.
Her father, a children’s book author, added: “If you believe you share the same name as Kirsty then you are very, very welcome on the map.”
“We’ve got a few Kirstens. We’ve got Kurstie with a U, Kerstie with an E. There’s even a guy called Alan who calls himself Kirsty to show his support. His name was Alan, spelled KIRSTY.”
The pair say others who are not Kirsty would be welcomed to act in solidarity without having to change their names.
Kirsty Waugh is undergoing chemotherapy to shrink a large tumor discovered in her brain in 2024 after she lost most of her vision within weeks of her final year at primary school. Although the tumor is benign, it cannot be removed due to its size and location and can cause serious problems if it continues to grow.
She said the chemotherapy treatment, now in its second round after the first drug proved ineffective, was “really difficult.” “I feel sick, tired and out of breath. Frankly, some kids go through much worse things than I do and receive much worse treatments.”
Kirsty added that raising funds for charity was a welcome distraction. “I think telling my story and fundraising this way makes it easier to cope,” she said.
Last year, when she was looking for a new fundraising challenge, she thought: “Who do I want to tell this to? Who haven’t I told it yet? And that was Kirstys.”
After his daughter reached Kirsty’s limit among the family’s close friends and neighbours, Mat developed the interactive map to take this interest globally. The Kirstys don’t need to give money to pledge their support, and donations from anyone are welcomed, regardless of their name.
“When you wander through JustGiving pageit’s kind of funny because all the donations come from Kirstys,” she said of an appeal that has raised more than £75,000 so far. “It looks like a glitch in the Matrix.”
Mat added that, as well as a welcome distraction, the family felt committed to fundraising as Kirsty’s condition was relatively manageable for now.
“We feel like we’re in a unique position to be able to tell a story about a very, very serious diagnosis, but still have a reasonable amount of energy and be able to carry on normal life as it is right now,” he said. “If we don’t tell this story, it will be left to people who are much worse off.”
What’s so great about being Kirsty? “I’ve always loved being called Kirsty because it’s not a very common name,” she said. “Our numbers are not the same as 50 years ago.
“We’ve got so many cool Kirstys. We’ve had a few pilot Kirstys, nurses and surgeons. We’ve got lots of wonderful, interesting Kirstys.”
