Lewis Moody shared the inspiration and goals of his charity as they continue their goal of raising awareness in the fight against brain tumours, speaking on The Rugby Paper Podcast.
The former England back rower, who was part of the famous 2003 World Cup winning side discussed the Lewis Moody Foundation and their efforts to help those living with brain tumours.
“Our ambition is simple. We tackle brain tumours together, building a community of people dedicated to helping those affected,” said Moody.
“Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of under 40s and children bar none and yet for the best part of 30 years it's received the smallest percentage of cancer funding.”
The inspiration for starting the foundation came in 2012 after Moody met Joss Rowley Stark, a 15-year-old boy suffering from a brain tumour.
Following a letter from Joss' dad asking if Moody could meet his son to cheer him up during his chemotherapy treatment, the relationship begun and the two formed a strong bond.
After Joss passed away in 2013, Lewis and his wife Annie both committed to helping those with brain tumours by creating the Lewis Moody Foundation in Joss' memory.
Moody said: “It was a focal point for me and Annie, it was one of those moments in your life where you think this young man who had everything at his feet suddenly had it all taken away.
“We decided to focus all of our attention on supporting families dealing with brain tumours so since 2014 that is what all of our charitable endeavours have focused on.”
The organisation focuses on providing funding for three areas: Research, Support for victims and their families and raising awareness.
“Raising awareness was the key, the approach we took when we started the foundation and the head smart campaign, which is about getting early diagnosis information out there to schools, opticians and GPs, has been ground-breaking,” said Moody.
“Beyond the awareness it's actually finding the research to make sure that we can make a difference and start to reduce the impact that surgery and intervention has on people suffering and living with brain tumours and hopefully increase the life expectancy of people that are diagnosed.”
Moody has completed many extreme challenges including visiting the North Pole and trekking across Hadrian's Wall to support The Brain Tumour Charity and has raised over £2 Million over the past eight years.
On partaking in these events, Moody said: “It reminds me of being back in my playing days, its different but it gives me a little bit of that connection again.”
The next challenge he is set to embark on is the Western Front Way Cycle Challenge, a 1000km ride from Southern to Northern France spanning across seven days which sets off on September 30th 2023.
He will be joined by former England teammate Steven Thompson along with 20 others with the hope of completing the ride in time to attend England's Rugby World Cup fixture against Samoa on October 7th in Lille.
