Fred Bennett's Don't Look Down Fund

Fred Bennett's 'Don't Look Down' Fund is a Special Named Fund at CCLG raising money for research into acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in memory of 14-year-old Fred Bennett. Fred was 13 years old when in July 2019 he was diagnosed with ALL, a cancer of the blood. His treatment did not go to plan and he did not respond to chemotherapy. Early in 2020, as his leukaemia was refractory (not responsive to chemotherapy) he became eligible for Car T-cell Therapy, a new form of treatment that used the body’s own cells. Sadly the leukaemia was too aggressive. Fred died on May 3, 2020, shortly after he had received the Car T-cells, nine months after diagnosis. They proved to be no match for the leukaemia, which suddenly picked up speed and overwhelmed him. It all happened so quickly that he never knew he was dying, and never gave up hope that he would get his motorbike. We have set up the Don’t Look Down Fund in the hope that more children will get the chance to live the life they deserve. We chose the name as to encompass Fred’s fearless and risk-taking attitude as well as conveying how difficult the whole journey is. Despite everything, Fred was determined to be as active, strong and risk taking as ever, and one thing that really stood out during his illness was his mental resilience and determination. He was adamant he could still do the things he enjoyed. His determination and positive outlook kept us going and made a huge difference to how we look back on his last year. Fred’s medical team said that they still don’t know why some types of leukaemia don’t respond to standard treatments. The money raised will fund research into finding new cures and treatment plans for refractory ALL. We also would like these new treatments to be kinder to children, with less short- and long-term side effects than existing chemotherapy. We hope that we will all find risky and adventurous things to do to raise money in his name.